'It’s my time': Justis Huni is pain-free for the first time ever and ready to shock Fabio Wardley
LONDON — Justis Huni stares intently with a bemused look on his face. The 26-year-old sits in a London hotel, jet-lagged up to the eyeballs following a commute from Australia, and is trying, politely, to feign interest in the trials and tribulations of Ipswich Town Football Club.
It’s at Ipswich Town’s home of Portman Road that Huni will make his debut on U.K. soil this Saturday night, challenging hometown hero Fabio Wardley for the WBA interim heavyweight title. But the gravitas of the event doesn’t loom large in the eyes of the challenger as we speak six weeks out from the card titled “Running Towards Adversity.”
“It’s just me versus me — that’s how I have viewed my whole boxing career so far,” he explains. “Nothing that Fabio [Wardley] or the crowd can bring can impact me in the slightest. It’s just me and myself. If I can continue to improve every day of my life and beat the past version of myself, then I know that nobody can stop me.
“Having 20,000 or however many booing me makes no difference to me. I am arriving to do a job — it’s a sport where I have always believed I am here to take over, rather than just take part.”
Huni (12-0, 7 KOs) displays an impressive one-track mind with unshakeable confidence. My detailing of Ipswich Town’s relegation from the English Premier League is met with further confusion, and unlike his predecessor for this contest, Jarrell Miller, he isn’t willing to cheapen himself with a faux hatred of Wardley’s beloved team.
With just 12 fights and 78 rounds under his belt in the pro game, you’d be forgiven for suggesting that this potential career-defining opportunity has come early in the Australian’s story. But he’s a believer that timing is everything in boxing, and opportunities are there to be snatched.
“It was an easy decision to make [to accept the fight], if I am being honest, even at six weeks' notice,” he says. “It’s a massive opportunity for a fighter like me from the other side of the world. As Australians, we don’t tend to be gifted these sort of fights, so I knew I had no option but to take it.
“It’s my time — it’s as simple as that. If you turn down opportunities like this, then who knows when the next one might arise.”
In sports, sometimes you need several moving parts to align. They say it’s better to be a lucky athlete than a talented athlete, and Huni feels he is benefiting from this in his fifth year as a pro. At the start of this year, he underwent surgery on his left elbow, solving a problem that had dogged him for the past few years.
“I had several chipped bones in my elbow — something I have had to fight with for my whole pro career,” he explains. “Before the surgery, I didn’t know what it felt like to throw a jab without having this painful numbing sensation afterward. I would be scared to miss, as this pain would come and wouldn’t disappear for a couple of rounds after. I guess I just learnt how to adapt and fight with it.
“But now it’s fixed, I feel like a free man. I won’t go into spars of fights with that nagging feeling at the back of my brain of it going again. I have been punching well for the past couple of months since the surgery, just getting back into the swing of things, and I am ready to let it fly against Wardley.
“The timing of this fight was just meant to be. This fight is potentially life-changing for me, so to come into it with basically a fully functioning elbow is great.”
Despite the injury, Huni has remained a very active heavyweight. He has been moved quickly by Matchroom Boxing since signing with Eddie Hearn’s promotional outfit in February 2023, fighting four times, winning three by knockout.
“I enjoy being active,” he adds. “Staying ready is very important in this sport. This gives me a reason to train all year round and keep in shape. The last couple of years have gone by very quickly, but it has become very expensive to find opponents that want to fight me now — so jumping up into a challenge the size of Wardley makes the perfect sense for me now."
Huni was due to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games representing Australia, but a hand injury forced him to withdraw after his fifth professional contest against fellow countryman Paul Gallen. This was the sign for him to stay in the pro game rather than waiting on another cycle, and this decision could bear fruit on Saturday night.
“I have loved the transition from amateur to pro," he says. "The journey has been good so far, but I am always on the hunt to perfect my craft — that will come with time. Amateur boxing is a sprint to the line, but in the pros you are able to work into a fight and rely more on tactics.
“That’s what I will have to do in order to beat Wardley. I feel I am better than him in every department except his power, so if I am able to keep him long and use my ring IQ, then there is no reason why I can’t win this fight. He keeps saying he is going to hunt me down, but I am a boxer. I have fought every style in the world and these are the kind of fights where that experience is priceless.
“He can be assured that I’ve done my homework on him. He’s still pretty raw himself and will be surprised when he gets into the ring with someone like me who he will have to work out. I know that with the crowd behind him he is going to want to lure me into a tear-up, but that’s not going to work — I would be stupid to trade with him.”
Huni closes the conversation with a smile. A 22-hour flight quickly followed by a 12-hour media day has clearly taken its toll on the 6-foot-4 heavyweight, but he’s convinced it’ll all be worth it when the opening bell chimes inside Portman Road.
“I want to spearhead this next generation of heavyweights,” he concludes. “After this, it’s only big fights. It’s my time to open the next door.”
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