Gunnar Jackson has been chewing through the sparring partners as he prepares to step into the ring for his first professional title fight.
Jackson, 25, will fight former Olympian Kashif Mumtaz for the vacant New Zealand Professional Boxing Association super middleweight title at Auckland's ASB Arena on Saturday.
Jackson has had 15 fights, winning 11 and drawing two, since turning professional 22 months ago but Saturday's bout will be a hefty step up for the finely-chiselled Maori, with the contest for 10 three-minute rounds instead of the usual six.
Jackson's trainer, Chris Walker of Tauranga Box, has seriously re-jigged his fighter's workload to cope with the extra rounds and the tricky style Mumtaz brings to the ring.
Last Saturday, after a 30-minute warmup at Walker's Waihi Rd gym, Jackson was worked to a standstill in the ring, going 10 rounds with heavyweight James Emmerson and middleweight punchers Jamie Price and Joseph Ottesen, with each opponent getting a couple of rounds before a fresh fighter would squeeze through the ropes.
It was a brutal session, interrupted only by Walker's calm reminders to Jackson to work the jab and keep moving.
Sporting a blackened right eye courtesy of an Emmerson hook a few days earlier, Jackson was hustled between rounds, barely given time to catch his breath before the next opponent came at him. "Physically the jump from six rounds to 10 will be big, so we've deliberately upped Gunnar's workload in the last six weeks to get his fitness up, also working on the mental side by rotating three fresh opponents and limiting the break between rounds," Walker said. "When Gunnar gets in the ring he'll know he can go 10 rounds with a 20 second break between each."
Former PBA super middleweight titleholder Maselino Masoe is still ranked No 1 but is inactive, with 34-year-old Hamilton-based Mumtaz ranked No 2, Isaac Peach No 3 and Jackson fourth.
On the face of it, Mumtaz doesn't boast a record that should have Jackson sweating, with the Sydney Olympian losing 28 of his 37 pro fights, 11 by knockout. Eight of those losses have been in his last 10 bouts.
Jackson has been schooling up on his opponent, watching footage of his loss last year to Kiwi Daniel McKinnon on the David Tua undercard, and isn't taking him lightly.
"That was a rough fight against McKinnon and [Mumtaz] is a good boxer, who ranges from a clinching style to actual boxing. I like to box but I've been preparing for both."
Walker, too, has warned about underestimating Mumtaz, saying his record fails to paint the true picture.
"A lot of the fights he's had have been against tough opponents, top Australians and over there where it's hard to get a result because you're fighting the [parochial] judges at the same time. He's also fought a couple of former world champions.
"He's tough and durable who has perhaps been let down by taking fights at the drop of a hat when he's been injured or not in the best shape. For this weekend's fight against Gunnar he's had plenty of time to train so it'll be different."
Jackson's partner Jesska Wilson will be in Auckland to watch his fight, with daughters Aliyah, 10, and 4-year-old Charlie likely to be ringside, too. Sonny Bill Williams might hog the boxing headlines and get the reputed $500,000 fight deals but Jackson's still putting in nine-hour days as a drainlayer before spending a couple of hours at night at Walker's gym or pounding the pavement.
"It's a juggling act between work, enough family time and training but I'm balancing it okay right now," Jackson said.
Where would a win on Saturday night put him?
"I don't know if you'd call it a big break but it would give me a good ranking in the world and maybe open some doors in Aussie."
Walker is in no doubt across the ditch is where Jackson should be looking for the bulk of his fights, with the domestic pro scene hamstrung by a lack of depth and money.
"Gunnar's had 15 fights and has had a good run so far as a pro. There was a lot more activity for him as an amateur because there were a lot more fighters, whereas the pro game here is different. A win would lift Gunnar's profile and open doors to bigger fights in Australia, where the pro scene is well organised and strong, three or four tiers above what it is here."