Junior Fa knows it's probably two years in the making, but he's already confident enough to say Joseph Parker is the man he wants to fight.
Fa and Parker have history, splitting their four amateur fights two each, and momentum is slowly building behind the prospect of the pair eventually squaring off in the pro ranks.
Born and raised in South Auckland, Fa attended two Commonwealth Games with Tonga before taking three years out of the sport to have a family.
Back in the game this year, Fa has notched five straight wins and assembled an impressive team - Henry Schuster as coach, former New Zealand Olympic sprinter Mark Keddell as manager, Shane Cameron as mentor along with input from strength and conditioning guru Angus Ross, who also trains Olympic shot put bronze medallist Tom Walsh.
The 26-year-old, a big man with long limbs, has even had an offer from Carlos Takam's manager to promote him after sparring the Cameroon-born Frenchman in the lead-up to his fight with Parker in May.
And before his next fight against Samoan heavyweight Alapati A'asa (7-1-1) on Parker's undercard, Fa quit his job making windows and doors to dedicate his life to boxing.
"It was a hard choice but I knew I had to do it. Otherwise I'll still be plodding around for the next four years so I'd rather quit and risk it all to put my whole time and effort into training," Fa said.
From here, there's one target Fa wants.
"I know it's a few years in the making but Parker is the goal at the end of the road, for me and him to fight each other. Our past four fights were really good. Now we're both pros, we've both got more profile so it would be the same fight but on a bigger scale. I know New Zealand would love to see that."
Parker takes on Russian giant Alexander Dimitrenko in Manukau on October 1 in his 21st pro fight and is two wins away from a IBF world title shot against England's Anthony Joshua. Keddell has no doubts Fa would topple the Kiwi champion.
"Junior is bigger, stronger and he's light on his feet," Keddell said. "He's beaten Joseph before so I can't see any reason why he doesn't beat him again. Joseph is doing exceptionally well. He's the more experienced pro at this stage and that's his advantage. They'll both do their thing and I think in two years time it will be the greatest fight New Zealand has ever seen. Tua-Cameron was big but I think this will be bigger."
Cameron, who also mentors and manages super welterweight Ricky Murphy (9-0), likes what he sees in Fa but knows the hard graft required to build a name and profile.
If I can help him out in any way I will. It's always easy to pass on my knowledge. He's done a lot as it stands. His amateur career was formidable - he achieved more than Joseph but he's in the early stages of being a pro," Cameron said. "He lacked a bit of mongrel but he showed that on my card last weekend. I'd never seen him conduct himself that way in the ring. This is the entertainment business and people don't want to see fights go the distance so he needs to do more of that.
"He's big and strong enough to go all the way but like any young fighter it comes down to how much he wants it. I sparred him and Joseph when they were in their prime as amateurs and there was nothing between them. Joe is going places, so now it just comes down to Junior catching up."
Asked about the prospect of a Parker-Fa fight, in a statement Duco Events swatted away any imminent challenge.
"We're sick and tired of Junior Fa living off the fact he beat Joseph in the amateur ranks many moons ago. The amateur days are over, and Junior's got to realise that the pro ranks are for the big boys, and he's still got his training wheels on. Junior needs to string a number of entertaining and credible performances together in the pros before he can realistically be mentioned in the same breath as Joseph Parker again. We're giving Junior his first step, in a very long journey, on October 1."