Huni pot grows as ‘Big Daddy’ looms
HEAVYWEIGHT Justis Huni continued his rise as one of Australian boxing’s hottest prospects with a savage first-round stoppage of giant Jack Maris on Saturday night.
Returning from a recent concussion sustained outside the ring, Huni (3-0, 3KO) was never troubled by the 206cm Maris (2-1) as he chalked up his third consecutive win to retain his Australian title at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
Huni is eyeing a bigger
scalp when he fights former world-champion Lucas Browne (29-2, 25KO) in July and he put “Big Daddy” on notice by bludgeoning Maris in the opening round.
The monolithic Maris enjoyed a 13cm reach but his clumsy style was no match for Huni, who showed no ill-effects from a four-month layoff after launching his professional career last year with back-to-back wins over Faiga Opelu and Arsene Fosso.
The 111kg Newcastle monster was slow and sloppy from the outset. Huni started
watchfully but once he settled in, the 104kg Brisbane hulk shifted gears, unleashing a series of body shots which had Maris ducking for cover.
Huni then went for the jugular, delivering a vicious right hook that prompted referee Paul Tapley to intervene with 10 seconds left in the first round.
Maris exploded at the decision, shouting “I feel fine”, but the reality is he would have been lucky to survive another round with the classier Huni, who is eyeing gold at the Tokyo Olympics this year.
Huni will now take on
Christian Tsoye as another tune-up before his fifth professional bout against Browne, who faces Paul Gallen on Wednesday week.
“It feels amazing, I’m happy to be back,” Huni said.
“Lucas would be my biggest test so far. He is a big guy with reach and he is strong. He has fought all over the world. It would be a good test at this stage of my career, but I want to keep challenging myself.
“I don’t think I have fought to the best of my ability. I still have a lot to prove.”
In a gripping undercard,
Ben Mahoney (11-0, 6KO) won the Australian super welterweight title, overcoming a knockdown to edge out Kris George (14-3, 8KO) by unanimous decision.
It was George’s first fight in almost three years and he produced a gutsy display to almost consign Mahoney to his maiden career defeat.
Meanwhile, the impressive Andrew Hunt (8-0-1, 4KO) continued his unbeaten run, snatching the national welterweight belt from Ben Kite (18-5-1, 7KO) with a unanimous decision in a 10round slugfest.