Justis Huni remains an unbeaten heavyweight prospect, despite that late late scare against Kevin Lerena last Friday night in Riyadh.
The 24-year-old Huni, ranked in the top 15 by multiple sanctioning bodies, has a 9-0 record after claiming a unanimous decision win over the former cruiserweight champion in their 10-rounder on the Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou undercard.
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But Huni almost lost his 0 in shocking fashion after being wobbled badly by a massive Lerena left hand midway through the final session. He had to hang on for dear life to survive, hear the bell and have his hand raised on the scorecards.
Afterwards promoter Eddie Hearn provided an honest assessment of where Huni is in his career – and believes the Aussie star does have a big future in the sport’s marquee weight class.
Hearn on Huni
He told Matchroom Boxing on YouTube: “When you think about it, are we moving him a little bit too quickly? His eighth fight was against Andrew Tabiti, which was a tough fight in Mexico, former world title challenger. And the second fight, the ninth fight, was against Kevin Lerena – who’s a former world champion at cruiserweight.
“But they want to move him quick and he has got a fantastic amateur pedigree as well. He has to improve off the back of that performance – it was a good win, obviously got hurt badly in the last round.”
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Hearn explained what he believes must come next for Huni, if the promising youngster is to really show off his skills in the best way.
“I want to see Justis fight bigger heavyweights, because at the moment he’s fighting small, fast heavyweights – which is what he is. So I want to see him use his attributes against a big, strong heavyweight who is a little bit slower, whose feet might not move as fast. Because I think that’s when you’re going to see the best of Justis Huni.
“But certainly, for a ninth fight at 24 years of age, great performance.”
Big step up for Justis
Hearn had an in-depth conversation with Huni after the fight, and he was asked what the pair had discussed.
“I like to know how the fight felt. I said to him ‘I felt you looked a little bit flat at times’ and he said ‘yeah, I felt that’. It’s a big occasion, you can’t underestimate the pressure, the platform, the stage – everything they’re seeing fight week. It’s a big big step up and so was the fight against Lerena.
“I said I just felt there’s a few shots he should have thrown – that I felt the same in the Tabiti fight. He’s never gonna be the biggest puncher in the division – he can punch, but he’s got great speed, great movement and that’s what is gonna be some of his biggest attributes and for that I want to see him fight a bigger heavyweight and he’s got a massive future.”
