He had to do, just to make a buck when he was a little-known teenager fighting out of the Croatian Club in Punchbowl.

"We're talking like 500 people in a venue at the local club, you could smell the smoke coming from the pokie machines, you can smell the bistro food," the world title challenger told The Canberra Times.

"You've got to come from that grounding, that's what builds character, earning my stripes in those local shows, knowing how hard it is to get fans and supporters in there, to sell your tickets and make your small percentage on each.

"You take the money you got from the fight and use it on your next camp. You continually use the same blueprint, you make the money from a fight, enough to be able to come over to the US.

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"Now it's a different stage because the money finally came, but I've still got that desire. This is purely about my legacy and what I'm chasing."

This is a shot at Teofimo Lopez and the unified lightweight championship of the world inside Madison Square Garden's Hulu Theatre in New York City on Sunday [AEDT].

Some stage, huh.

Life is a little bit different from the days Kambosos Jnr was battling to sell tables for his own fights.

Lopez, 16-0 as a professional, holds the WBA Super, IBF, WBO and WBC Franchise championships and enters his first title defence since prying the belts away from Vasiliy Lomachenko more than 12 months ago.

Kambosos Jnr boasts a 19-0 record and carries no belts but an unwavering sense of belief.

A belief this is his destiny, having taken what he calls "the hardest way out of any Australian fighter probably in the past 50 years, going into the backyards of former champions continuously and beating these guys".

Kambosos Jnr remains something of an unknown to the mainstream Australian audience. It makes his shot at the unified world championship seem like something of an overnight success story.

But in truth it is anything but. The 28-year-old has not fought on home soil in more than four years, his boxing career taking him from Kuala Lumpur to Athens, Las Vegas to Wembley, and now back to the Big Apple.

Kambosos Jnr tells it just like legendary Australian boxing trainer Johnny Lewis did. This overweight kid who was bullied at school never had it the easy way.

He once harboured dreams of playing in the NRL as he was drafted into the Cronulla Sharks' junior pathways. But his heart was inside the ring, so he walked out with a new destination in mind.

"I went to the mountain, I climbed up the mountain. I'm at the top of the mountain but I'm here to stamp my feet now and say 'I'm the undisputed champion of the world and I've done it the hard way'," Kambosos Jnr said.

"Not having a massive name at the start, fighting on local shows and not having a big promoter behind me, bit by bit I grinded my way to my spot and I really earned my stripes.

"It's like God said 'you're going to get everything in one hit, all the hard work, you're going to get a chance of getting everything'. It's huge, something no Australian has ever done, bring five belts back home."

Kambosos Jnr is tired of waiting. This bout was originally planned for May 29. Eight different dates have followed, but finally, the day has come.

The former sparring partner to Manny Pacquiao is seen as a rank outsider by bookmakers but he is determined to cause an upset, adamant he has Lopez covered everywhere. He's talking punches, footwork, vision, IQ, and heart.

A win on Sunday can turn Kambosos Jnr into a global star. It would make him Australia's only world champion at present. Stocks are rising for Tim Tszyu, Jai Opetaia, Justis Huni, Brock Jarvis, Issac Hardman and twins Andrew and Jason Moloney. But Kambosos Jnr is here now.

"At the end of the day I'm here raising the flag on the world scene," Kambosos Jnr said.

"They talk about certain guys trying to get to the top and doing this and that. Kambosos is here now. I am the face of Australian boxing, because I'm representing on the biggest pinnacle and the biggest stage of all. I'm ready to fight, I'm ready to win."

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