Time in Tyson Fury's camp has inspired Alex Leapai Jnr as the Australian heavyweight prepares to put the family name up in lights again.
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Ten years on from father Alex's heavyweight world title fight against Wladimir Klitschko, the 18-year-old (1-0) will headline against Raphael Sa'u (1-1-1) at the Gatton Shire Hall next Friday.
He'll then serve on the undercard to stablemate David Nyika in Auckland on September 14.
There he'll fight Kenny Niko, the man who ended Tevita Pangai's boxing career with a first-round knockout in May.
Leapai won a tight debut fight against Joe Ageli in April and then joined Nyika in Saudi Arabia, where he fought on the Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undercard in May.
The teenager opted out of his NRL contract with Gold Coast to pursue a boxing dream and said his experience with Fury had only validated his decision.
"Fury is a cool man, exactly what you see on social media," he told AAP.
"A real character and that's just his confidence.
"Just because he was the world champion I don't think he filtered himself in any shape or form.
"He stuck to himself and that's cool, that's inspiring for me, you want to stick to your own guns.
"It was a visual of what I could be doing in the next few years ... to be in that atmosphere, it really hit hard on me."
Trainer Noel Thornberry, also in his father's corner on the way to world title contention, has used his connections to ensure Leapai isn't blinded by the bright lights.
"To be around them, realising they're not demi-gods, just normal people that have worked their arse off," he told AAP.
"That hard work and experience is all that's between them and I looked at him and said 'you'll beat all these guys'.
"And he looked at me and said, 'I know I will'. So he's got that self belief, which is huge."
Thornberry said Leapai's rugby league experience meant he had entered the sport "a better professional" than his father.
"There was a method to his madness but Alex has a 210cm reach, a good jab and he's a student of the game," he said.
"Al was a student of the game too, but his game was thuggery.
"The young fella's quite smart; sits there and analyses his opponents and how they break them down."
Australian Associated Press
