He’s no Lionheart: It’s Alex the Great’s journey now

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He’s no Lionheart: It’s Alex the Great’s journey now

Alex Leapai Sr sat at the back of the theatre as his 18-year-old son, Alex Jr, was asked to step forward and allow the crowd to appreciate the monstrous frame he was blessed with.

It was a symbolic moment for the former world title challenger dubbed the Lionheart, who went toe-to-toe with Wladimir Klitschko for the heavyweight world title in Germany 10 years ago.

“Put it this way, the Lionheart is no longer. Now it’s Alexander the Great that’s going to take over,” the softly spoken giant whispered to AAP in Auckland on Friday.

“And Alexander the Great, you look back at history, he really did take over the world.

“People have been waiting for the next superstar, not just in Australia, the world.

“Who’s the next George Foreman? Who’s the next Mike Tyson?

“Trust me; I’m confident he’ll make it to the top.”

There are appropriately big plans for the 124kg Alex Leapai Jr, who will step in for his third professional ****** against Manusiu Fe’ao on the undercard to the David Nyika-Tommy Karpency headline act in Auckland on Saturday.

Earlier this year he turned his back on an NRL future, having already spent time in both the Sydney Roosters and Gold Coast systems.

Leapai’s father admitted his surprise at that call and stressed he had never twisted his arm.

“It’s his journey … but he was always destined,” he said.

“You’re either born with that type of power or you haven’t got it … just wait until he becomes a man.”

Trainer Noel Thornberry, who took Leapai Sr from obscurity to a world title shot in a real-life Rocky story, thinks the prodigy can sell out Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium for a hometown world title shot.

And he would know. Thornberry and promoter David Higgins of Duco Events, working with New Zealand heavyweight champion Joseph Parker to stage Saturday’s Viaduct Events Centre show, were ridiculed when they first proposed Jeff ***** ****** Manny Pacquiao there in 2017.

But it happened, and ***** won to create an everlasting *********** sporting moment.

“Noel is one of the most understated forces in Australasian and Oceania boxing,” Nyika said of his trainer based in Gatton, a rural town inland of Brisbane.

“He’s taken raw talent like Alex and his brother Ricky to world titles out of his backyard, garage gym.”

Nyika, a Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, is 9-0 as a cruiserweight and relishing his Leapai mentoring role.

“He’s got a temperament that will be an absolute nightmare for so many guys at the top level,” Nyika said.

“He’s got the calmness but also got that really violent streak to him, which is terrifying.

“If he’s on my undercards or one day I’m on his, we can take this corner of the globe by storm.

“It’s about nurturing that ferocity. We need to keep him fighting, we need him breaking people’s ribs.

“He’s a wrecking machine who can transcend what his dad did … people forget he was really a part-timer boxer who began in his late 20s.

“Al Junior, his sole focus is to become a heavyweight world champ.”

Leapai Sr, who liked to drink and smoke and has spent time in jail for ********, is happy to offer advice when necessary.

“If anyone can take my son to the top it’s Noel,” he said.

“I could train him, but there’s some things I have to put aside as a father and there’s a difference between us.

“Noel’s calm and I’m not.

“So I’m just his dad. I mentor him, talk to him, and there is going to be days that it all comes crashing down.

“I’ve been through it and thankful I did go through it, so I can guide him.

“I’m not a real big fan of flying around the world, but I’m just going to have to do it again now.”

At 32, Parker is enjoying a career renaissance that has him within reach of another world title belt eight years after winning his first.

He’s never seen Leapai ****** in the flesh, but after heavy involvement as a co-promoter of this Auckland card he has given the teenager’s approach the tick of approval.

“I’ve only seen him ****** on

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, but he’s a unit,” Parker told AAP.

“He’s 18, tall, big arms, a big boy and (he’s) with Noel. You guide him, don’t rush him, and that’s what they’re doing.

“How he copes with all these experiences, it’s the perfect storm.

“It’s hard to gauge how good he can be, but the potential is unlimited. It’s up to him.”

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