Issac Hardman slept in the back of his car outside a Chermside boxing gym, waking only for a $10 lunch at the Thai restaurant around the corner.
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"I live out at Caboolture, I never had enough fuel to make it there and back twice in a day," the undefeated middleweight prospect said.
This was how his boxing journey began, but Hardman is quick to point it this is no rags to riches story. He was 14 when his father died, but his mother gave him everything she could.
Even so, Hardman has "seen some shit". He says he didn't have the life so many others take for granted. Which is why the 10-0 boxer wants to cash in every time he steps into the ring.
The 25-year-old will put his Australian, IBF Australasian and WBO Oriental middleweight titles on the line against Emmanuel Carlos [12-1] at Sydney's International Convention Centre on Wednesday.
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In his corner will be Blair Studley, the man Hardman looks to as dad. The man Hardman would drive from Caboolture to train with twice a day. The man Hardman has asked to be his best man on his wedding day.
"I always get choked up talking about Blair. He's here with me, he makes the walk with me, he is in it as much as I am," Hardman said.
Which is why Hardman asked Studley to be his best man as he stood inside the ring, moments after beating Rob Berridge three weeks ago.
"We've got a really close relationship, Issac and I. When I first met him he was sleeping in his car during the day out the back at work and just coming in watching me train people," Studley said.
"I was training him, then I offered him a job and it's all gone from there. We've been working together now for six years.
"Issac and I got on really well right from the start. He's just so coachable and a likeable fella. We've pretty much been inseparable since we've started.
"You get a very tight fighter and coach bond, and we've got that extra thing having lost his father when he was younger."
Wednesday night marks their third walk to the ring in two months. Few fighters are so active. Many, Hardman says, are guilty of sitting back and just waiting for "the right fight".
"I swear some of these f---ing boxers have a checklist, 'he's got to have blue eyes, blonde hair, he can only be an orthodox, 180 centimetres'. This is ridiculous," Hardman said.
"Inactivity is the biggest sin in boxing, so to stay active, that felt like a training run for me. It's so important to stay active.
"We have this little window in boxing as a professional athlete to get as much as we can out of this sport because this sport owes me nothing at all. When I'm done, it's going to kick me to the side.
"Until I'm done I am going to milk it for everything I can and more before getting the f--k out."
TERMINATION DAY - PAUL GALLEN V JUSTIS HUNI
Wednesday: Termination Day - Paul Gallen v Justis Huni at International Convention Centre Sydney, 7pm. Live on Main Event.
ANBF Australian heavyweight title: Justis Huni [4-0, 106.35kg] v Paul Gallen [11-0-1, 99.4kg]
ANBF Australian, WBO Oriental, IBF Australasian titles: Issac Hardman [10-0, 72.45kg] v Emmanuel Carlos [12-1, 72.35kg]
Middleweight: Andrei Mikhailovich [15-0, 72.45kg] v Alex Hanan [13-0, 71.95kg]
ANBF Australasian featherweight title: Sam Goodman [8-0, 56.9kg] v Nort Beauchamp [18-4, 56.95kg]
Cruiserweight: Jason Whateley [8-0, 90.1kg] v Victor Oganov [32-8, 89.65kg]
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