Just two years on from his first fight, Gomeroi-Murri boxer Kobe Hunt has one thing in mind for next month's men's World Championships; gold.
The 20-year-old carries a 10-2 record to the biannual International Boxing Association (IBA) event, seen as the most prestigious in amateur boxing.
Already two-time national champion and two-time NSW champion across the lighter weight classes, Hunt is eyeing off going one better than his recent silver medal at September's OCBC Oceania Championships.
Not yet beaten by a fighter back home, his only two losses have come against international opponents, brandishing age and experience over the Tamworth born-and-raised talent.
"We're not even hoping, we're going for gold," Hunt told National Indigenous Times this week.
"We're training twice a day, everyday. I've stepped up, I've re-evaluated where I was at. I'm taking another step."
Hunt says he's headed to the "world stage" in Dubai for the World Championships.
It's a rapid rise from first entering a gym mid-2023, and making his debut in November the same year.
"Boxing has really brought me out of my shell, given me a different sort of confidence," Hunt said.
"When you're between the ropes It's just you and the other person, and there's really no way out. The only way out is to fight your way through it.
"You've got to have that confidence about yourself, and then that, I guess, carries over into just everyday life."
It's a warranted confidence, as far as his coach Jamie Carroll at Tamworth's One2Boxing sees it.
Hunt is earning the kinds of opportunities other fighters are made to wait a lot longer for, if they ever get it, Carroll said.
"He's shown a lot of promise, and at (the World Championships), at 48 kg, I really do think he'll go well. We're hoping to medal."
In his amateur career so far, Hunt has bounced around minimum weight and as high as 54 kg - a massive adjustment in the sport.
He'll be fighting at his lightest in Dubai. "I'm sharp, I'm fast, I'm fit and I'm quick," Hunt said.
More than $8 million US in collective prize money is on offer at the 12-day festival, including $300,000 for the winner of each weight category, with 50 per cent going to the fighter and the other half split between their coach and national boxing federation.
Even fifth place goes home with $10,000.
Australian National Amateur Boxing Association president Nick Lundh says gold there carries a more prestigious title than at the Olympics.
At OCBC Elite Men's & Women's Oceania Boxing Championships in Tahiti, Hunt was far from outclassed in the ring with "very well credentialed boxes" - those experienced at World Championships and Olympic Games, Lundh said.
The young fighter came home with a second placed finish against the best in the region.
Lundh is similarly bullish about Hunt making a statement against the world.
Hunt also knows the impact his progression and presence can have on those around him.
In 2024, Tamworth-based boxer and Solomon Islands man Lemuel Silisia tragically lost his life days after a professional title fight.
Silisia was an early inspiration for Hunt, having trained alongside the late, "humble" fighter.
"It's definitely part of the reason why I've kept doing it," Hunt said, in respect to himself being a leader for younger kids to look up to.
"It sort of opened my eyes to how much having a role model figure means to someone who is just starting out.
"I think that's what I want to do for the kids," both in and outside of boxing, Hunt said, "I just want to show people that if they want to do something and want to go far in life, but if they put their mind to it and work hard towards it, that they could do it".
To help support his efforts at making a splash in Dubai, Hunt is putting the call out there for others to get behind him.
"It'd be great to see the community get behind me. I'm on the world stage now," he said.
2025 IBA Men's Elite World Championships are hosted in Dubai from December 2-13.
