Joseph Goodall 8-0-1 (7) has been label a dirty fighter ahead of his heavyweight clash with Justis Huni 5-0 (4) at Nissan Arena in Brisbane, Australia on Wednesday night.
Goodall has been training in Las Vegas for the past year under the watchful eye of New Zealand coach Kevin Barry, who is based in the desert city.
Promoter Dean Lonergan gave Barry a backhanded compliment at yesterday’s press conference.
“Joe Goodall… I don’t think would have been half the fighter that he is today after 12 months without Kevin Barry,” Lonergan said.
“He went away from these shores to Las Vegas a mental and physical marshmallow – he’s come back and his body is chiselled like granite.
“I’ve got no doubt that Kevin Barry’s DNA to win has been heavily ingrained in him.
“He’s trained guys in the past who I thought were mediocre fighters and turned them into absolute animals, and guys who will do what they have to do to win.
“Whether it be elbowing, whether it be headbutting, whether it be low blows… what worries me in this fight (is) that Joe Goodall will come to the table with a whole lot of stuff that we’ve never seen before from Joe.
“Kevin’s already alluded to it on a number of occasions and talked about Joe being the ‘Junkyard Dog’ who’ll keep coming and coming.
“I can promise you he will… be coming with dirty tricks and it’s something that the referee will definitely have to be watching out for.”
The bout will be for three regional titles, the WBO Oriental, IBF Pan-Pacific and WBC Australasian, with the winner earning a top 15 world ranking with those sanctioning bodies.
Goodall was unfazed by Lonergan’s accusations and said he wants to put on the show of his life.
“I’m a world-class boxer – I know that,” said the 29-year-old from Brisbane.
“He (Huni) is a world-class boxer, so it’s going to be a boxing fight for sure, but the longer it goes on, it could come down to who wants it more. Sometimes will beats skill.”
Huni, 23 and also from Brisbane, is having his first fight in a year after stopping Paul Gallen in 10 rounds in Sydney last June. He injured his hand in that bout, which prevented him from competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
His preparation for the Goodall fight was disrupted last week when his house was shot up at 4am on Thursday morning. There were 10 people inside at the time.
But Huni insists he is fully focused on the fight in front of him and will perform on the night.
Both teams have predicted a knockout within six rounds.
“I’ll stand there and fight,” Huni said. “If he wants to go to the deep waters, I’m willing to go to the deep waters.
“I’ve done all the hard work and I’ve done all the preparation for this fight. Bring it on.”
