{"id":363936,"date":"2024-01-30T04:12:37","date_gmt":"2024-01-30T05:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=363936"},"modified":"2024-01-30T06:03:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T06:03:45","slug":"highly-touted-rookie-ditches-nrl-for-boxing-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=363936","title":{"rendered":"Highly-touted rookie ditches NRL for boxing 'mission'"},"content":{"rendered":"

O\ufeffne of the brightest young talents in rugby league will walk away from the sport, with highly-touted Titans<\/a> teenager Alex Leapai Jr. opting to pursue a career in boxing.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old forward signed with the Gold Coast \ufeffafter reportedly knocking back an offer from the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, but will now put his NRL<\/a> dream on hold to follow in his father's footsteps.<\/p>\n

Alex Leapai Sr.<\/a> was a standout heavyweight and once challenged Wladimir Klitschco for the undisputed title, but fell short in his bid to become a world champion and retired in 2019.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie teen superstar likened to Usain Bolt<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Exhausted' Medvedev's bizarre tactic cost star<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Loophole closed as star's Vegas request rejected<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

His son will now attempt to go one better, with Leapai Jr. detailing his desire to become the future king of the heavyweight division.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I'm going to step away from the NRL dream, I'm on a mission," he told The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"It took a lot of independent thinking … it was a hard decision, so I just started praying on it and one day I woke up and felt like hitting the bag. That's when I knew my heart said boxing.<\/p>\n

"Obviously Dad went a pretty long way in boxing \u2013 he was a contender for the world heavyweight title \u2013 and I feel like in this journey when I'm fighting now I'll complete the journey.<\/p>\n

"I believe that I can finish the job that my dad started."<\/p>\n

Leapai Jr. was on a path to first grade after starring in the Future Titans program, and was seen as a future front-row option at the club alongside Origin stars Tino Fa'asuamelaui and Moeaki Fotuaika.<\/p>\n

But now, his attention has become fixated on his professional boxing debut in April, declaring his time in league is over.<\/p>\n

"I'd rather start now instead of starting later in my career," he said.<\/p>\n

"I don't want to play footy and get injured, then that's the boxing dream gone. It's better to take advantage while I'm still young."<\/p>\n

His father believes that he has all the tools to become a sensation in the fight game, but it will require countless hours of hard work.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

"I've fought a lot of the best fighters in the world, this kid has only just turned 18 and there's world-class power right there," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's not an easy game, it takes a lot of dedication, and you've got to train hard – when everybody's chilling out, you're working – and I believe he'll take it all the way."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

O\ufeffne of the brightest young talents in rugby league will walk away from the sport, with highly-touted Titans teenager Alex Leapai Jr. opting to pursue […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":363938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=363936"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363941,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363936\/revisions\/363941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/363938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=363936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=363936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=363936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}