This was poetic Justis at its finest.
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For all of Paul Gallen's barbs about Justis Huni's perceived inability to withstand pressure in the spotlight, the Australian champion shone brightest when it mattered most.
Huni [5-0] defended his ANBF Australian heavyweight crown in style with a 10th round technical knockout win [1.18] over Gallen [11-1-1] at Sydney's International Convention Centre on Wednesday night.
Now his attention turns to Tokyo, where he heads to the Olympic Games widely regarded as Australia's greatest gold medal hope. He is favoured to be the nation's first medallist since Grahame "Spike" Cheney in 1988.
Huni arrives in Tokyo with a 5-0 record as a professional, and promoter Dean Lonergan hopes we are only scratching the surface of his potential as a prize fighter.
MORE BOXING
Because against Gallen he displayed all the hallmarks of a supremely talented amateur. In time, that style will change as he sits on his punches more. But for now, it has served him well.
"He's very tough, he's definitely built different. You're a legend, mate," Huni said of Gallen.
"The build-up was good. I enjoyed every step of it. He definitely made it tricky for me with his words, but we don't let that get to us. We come here and do what we need to do.
"Obviously after I accomplish all my amateur dreams, which is to go over and represent Australia at the Olympics, I'll come back and sit down with my team, and change my style to a professional style.
"I'll hopefully make you all proud and bring home the gold medal."
Conventional wisdom would have suggested a boxer with the amateur pedigree of Huni would "box Gallen's ears off", so much so that the legendary Jeff Fenech could not envisage Gallen winning a round.
The NRL great, who said victory would mark one of his finest individual achievements, had to forgo the sweet science in favour of a bar room brawl if he was to win.
But the fleet-footed and supremely gifted Huni presented a vastly different challenge to those of Lucas Browne and Mark Hunt.
Gallen had caned Huni in the war of the words, though through it all Huni had rarely, if ever, seemed flustered. The manufactured hate between two camps was left to the rest to worry about.
Instead, he picked off Gallen every time he charged forward in the ring. He dominated at long range and in close. He was simply a class above against an opponent too tough for his own good.
The fact Gallen managed to last until the 10th round is somewhat remarkable, such was Huni's dominance. So many times you thought we'd seen enough, but Gallen's corner wouldn't throw in the towel, instead waiting in hope for a last-ditch knockout victory.
Instead it was their man who was stopped in the 10th, with Huni putting the exclamation mark on an incredible demolition.
"I'm a prize fighter, I've said that, but I'm as competitive a person as I is. In the sixth or seventh round, I didn't think I was going to win it but I wanted to finish," Gallen said.
"I think he broke my rib in the second round. He was too fast and probably punched a little bit harder than I thought he would as well.
"I wish him the best. All the chat before was chat. I hope he can win a gold medal for Australia, and we might do it again in a couple of months' time, we'll see what happens."
Gallen does have a rematch clause in his contract, but whether he wants this again remains to be seen.
ON THE UNDERCARD
Issac Hardman and Andrei Mikhailovich, anyone?
The two middleweights could be on a collision course after Hardman defended a trio of titles and Mikhailovich reigned over a bitter rival before calling out the "Headsplitter".
But while the build-up and the bout would undoubtedly capture the attention of the Australian public, Hardman could take some convincing.
The 25-year-old [11-0] could soon be world-ranked after stopping Emmanuel Carlos [12-1] inside four rounds to defend his ANBF Australian, WBO Oriental, and IBF Australasian titles - and he isn't looking backwards.
"Let me go iron out one of those Poms," Hardman said after mentioning the name of leading English promoter Eddie Hearn.
"[Mikhailovich] is a boy. Earn your shot. He's 15-0 and No. 300 in the world. I was 10-0 and No. 20 in the world. Numbers don't lie baby."
Undefeated Mikhailovich [16-0] called out Hardman in the wake of a devastating second-round stoppage win over bitter rival Alex Hanan [13-1].
Mikhailovich and Hanan had traded merciless barbs in the lead-up, and Hanan sent a jab into Mikhailovich's stomach when the pair touched gloves before the opening bell.
But it was "The Renegade" who had his hand raised, dropping Hanan twice in the second round before the fight was stopped. In an instant, the hatred had evaporated.
"Fights do that, fights take the bad blood out of shit. Me and Alex, we'll be friends for life now," Mikhailovich said before turning his attention to what comes next.
"Issac Hardman, let's go baby, any day of the week. Let's do this shit, any day, any week."
Another of Huni's stablemates in cruiserweight contender Jai Opetaia watched on as a potential future rival in Jason Whateley advanced to 9-0.
Whateley outclassed Victor Oganov in a fourth-round stoppage, with the 44-year-old surely set to hang up the gloves after four consecutive TKO defeats.
AT A GLANCE
Termination Day - Justis Huni v Paul Gallen at International Convention Centre Sydney.
ANBF Australian heavyweight title: Justis Huni [5-0] v Paul Gallen [11-1-1] via TKO [round 10, 1.18]
ANBF Australian, WBO Oriental, IBF Australasian titles: Issac Hardman [11-0] bt Emmanuel Carlos [12-2] via TKO [round four, 1.58]
Middleweight: Andrei Mikhailovich [16-0] bt Alex Hanan [13-1] via TKO [round two, 2.29]]
ANBF Australasian featherweight title: Sam Goodman [9-0] bt Nort Beauchamp [18-5] via TKO [round six, 1.17]
Cruiserweight: Jason Whateley [9-0] bt Victor Oganov [32-9] via TKO [round four, 2.03]
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