Alex Cooper paints a picture of quiet confidence as he sits down to have his hands wrapped in Jamie Pittman's garage.
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The promising boxer is counting down the days until his professional debut - and he makes no secret of where he wants the path to lead.
"A world title, I want to win a world title," Cooper said.
His first step comes inside the Hellenic Club of Canberra, where Cooper will make his professional debut against Krishna Mudaliar (6-7-2) at Capital Fight Show 17 on Friday night.
In his corner will be his father Chris Cooper and a former world title challenger in Pittman. Truth be told, family has never been far away when Alex pulls on the gloves.
"My older brother wanted to do it, and classic younger brother, I just followed him. I would have been eight or nine when I picked it up," Cooper said.
Soon enough Cooper was a two-time junior Australian champion, a junior Oceania champion, a Coral Sea Games gold medallist. He claimed golden gloves titles at national and Australasian level.
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"What stands out? Winning an Australian title for sure, winning Oceanias over in Tahiti. Those are probably the big things."
Yet he was never satisfied, and something in the back of Cooper's mind told him he never would be - not until he reached the summit.
Which brings him to Friday night. A professional debut he has been working towards for years.
"Why now? Age is a big thing," Cooper said.
"I wanted to have a good crack at the pros, and it was pretty much my age. I wanted to give myself a few good years to give it a good crack.
"It has always been my goal to be a professional fighter, I started to build up a bit of man strength and now that I'm 23 I thought it's time to get into it."
Capital Fight Show promoter Nick Boutzos believes Cooper boasts the finest pedigree of any amateur boxer to enter his stable.
"He is extremely credentialed and has the record to back it up with two Australian titles and multiple other elite level titles," Boutzos said.
"I believe Alex will be an Australian champion in the next 18 months. I believe I will have five Australian champions fighting out of Canberra by the end of 2020."
Gaze into his crystal ball and you will see Ben Dencio making amends in his bid to be crowned Australian super featherweight champion.
You will see Cameroonian refugee Arsene Fosso atop his adopted home country's heavyweight division and Beau Hartas conquering the middleweight landscape.
Then there is Jorge Kapeen, set to make his debut at CFS 17, winning the Australian welterweight strap - and of course, Cooper reigning supreme at super welterweight.
"That's massive, hopefully sometime next year we can start winning some belts. The Australian title is definitely a goal, that's a big one," Cooper said.
To have five national title holders under one banner in the capital would be a stunning achievement and one that could not come at a better time.
Boutzos and Dean Lonergan, the man who brought Manny Pacquiao down under and orchestrated one of the biggest days Australian sport has ever seen, are on the cusp of striking a deal to televise shows from the AIS Arena live on Fox Sports from next year.
The deal will form part of an Australia-wide National Boxing Series - and it is a stage Cooper is desperate to shine on.
"It's massive, especially in Canberra. To be able to get that sort of exposure is huge," Cooper said.
But first comes Mudaliar. For that, Pittman has four simple words.
"Watch out, September 6."
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports journalist for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports journalist for The Canberra Times.
