Justis Huni

Justis Huni (born 4 April 1999) is an Australian professional boxer. He has held the Australian heavyweight title since 2020. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships.[1]

Justis Huni
Statistics
Nickname(s)JPH
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Born (1999-04-04) 4 April 1999
Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights7
Wins7
Wins by KO4
Losses0
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Australia
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2019 YekaterinburgSuper-heavyweight
Youth World Championships
Gold medal – first place2016 Saint PetersburgSuper-heavyweight

Early life

Huni was born on 4 April 1999 in Meadowbrook,[2] a suburb of Logan City, in the metropolitan area of Brisbane, Queensland.[3] He is of Tongan, Swedish, Samoan and Dutch descent.[4] His first sporting love was rugby league where he began playing for the Souths Sunnybank Magpies as a child but gave away the sport at the age of eight to pursue a career in boxing.[5]

Amateur career

World Championships result

Yekaterinburg 2019

  • First round: Defeated Cristian Salcedo (Colombia) 5–0
  • Second round: Defeated Nigel Paul (Trinidad and Tobago) RSC
  • Quarter-finals: Defeated Mahammad Abdullayev (Azerbaijan) 5–0
  • Semi-finals: Defeated by Kamshybek Kunkabayev (Kazakhstan) W/O

Professional career

Early career

On 22 October 2020, Huni made his professional debut against Australian heavyweight champion, Faiga Opelu. Huni dominated throughout the bout and in the seventh round, he secured victory after his opponent's corner threw in the towel to protect Opelu from further damage.[6]

On 3 December 2020, Huni fought for the second time as a professional against Arsene Fosso. After controlling the opening three rounds, referee Phil Austin called a halt to the fight in the fourth round after Fosso took a number of heavy blows from Huni.[7][8]

Huni had three more professional fights in the first half of 2021, knocking out Jack Maris on 10 April and defeating Christian Tsoye by unanimous decision on 26 May to retain his Australian heavyweight title. His most publicised fight took place on 16 June, when Huni entered the ring against ex-rugby league player, turned professional boxer, Paul Gallen. In what was a bruising encounter, Huni controlled the fight and overcame his 39-year-old opponent in the 10th round after knocking him to the ground. The referee declared the fight over with Huni improving his record to 5-0 while handing Gallen his first defeat. [9]

Huni was set to represent Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the super-heavyweight division but was ruled out due to injury.[10]

Professional boxing record
7 fights 7 wins 0 losses
By knockout 4 0
By decision 3 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
7 Win 7–0 Kiki Toa Leutele UD 10 4 Nov 2022 Nissan Arena, Brisbane, Australia Retained IBF Pan Pacific, WBO Oriental, and OPBF heavyweight titles
6 Win 6–0 Joseph Goodall UD 10 15 Jun 2022 Nissan Arena, Brisbane, Australia Won vacant IBF Pan Pacific, WBO Oriental, and OPBF heavyweight titles
5 Win 5–0 Paul Gallen TKO 10 (10), 1:18 16 Jun 2021 ICC Exhibition Centre, Sydney, Australia Retained Australian heavyweight title
4 Win 4–0 Christian Ndzie Tsoye UD 10 26 May 2021 ICC Exhibition Centre, Sydney, Australia Retained Australian heavyweight title
3 Win 3–0 Jack Maris TKO 1 (6), 2:50 10 Apr 2021 Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast, Australia
2 Win 2–0 Arsene Fosso TKO 4 (10), 1:07 3 Dec 2020 Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, Australia Retained Australian heavyweight title
1 Win 1–0 Faiga Opelu TKO 7 (10), 1:21 22 Oct 2020 Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, Australia Won Australian heavyweight title

References
  1. "World Amateur Championship: Gold Medal Round Results". boxingscene.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  2. "Justis Huni". Proboxing. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  3. Peter Badel (22 October 2020). "Justis Huni wins Australian heavyweight title in professional debut as Jai Opetaia wins 20th fight in a row". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. Grantlee Kieza (6 December 2016). "Sweet as Huni as Justis takes world title". Courier Mail. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  5. Phil Lutton (21 September 2020). "Heavyweight Huni in deep end with pro debut". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  6. "Remember the name: 21yo Aussie giant makes boxing history with epic belt win on debut". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  7. "Justis Huni battered Arsene Fosso in Brisbane". theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  8. "Justis Huni eyes Olympic gold and a world heavyweight title after impressive win over Arsene Fosso". abc.net.au. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  9. "'Unnecessary punishment': Ref slammed over stoppage as Gal urged to take his $1.5m and run". Fox Sports. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  10. Lutton, Phil (21 September 2020). "Heavyweight Huni in deep end with pro debut". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
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