By Tony Nobbs: Noel Thornberry, the trainer of WBO number 14 Alex “The Lionheart” Leapai, told Eastside that his Samoan born slugger is six months away from facing one of the top big men in the game – and wants it known that David Haye heads the list.
“If Alex hit David Haye on the chin, it will shatter. It’ll take them three weeks to pick up the broken glass” said Thornberry yesterday.
“Haye has very good speed and no doubt he is a tremendous fighter but he is suspect to big punchers. Monte Barrett had him hurt and Barrett fought scared. He was more worried what was coming in than he was in giving back. “
Leapai (16-3-2, 12 KO’s) entered the top 15 dismantling warhorse Col Wilson in June. He is a former OPBF champ, winning that strap by knocking out Nathan Briggs in ‘07 before losing to Wilson in 2008.
He has his next four bouts lined up and with a fifth possible before Christmas, Thornberry believes ring activity will see him more than ready for the best contenders.
“Alex is improving. He’s got a great chin, he’s got a great defense and he can punch. In the past his diet has been a problem but he is getting disciplined in that regard as he sees the opportunities. With regular fights and hopefully some proper sparring, we want to fight the likes of Haye, Alexander Dimitrenko, Alexander Povetkin,Chris Arreola, Eddie Chambers, Lamon Brewster and James Toney”.
Leapai, 29, is currently ranked number one contender for John Hopoate’s national title.Thornbery says “Of course a fight with Hoppa would be great. Alex would knock him out and he would knock Bob (Mirovic) out on the same night.”
“In saying that, Hoppa’s done a tremendous job getting where he has with no amateur experience. Unfortunately his lack of experience got shown up in his last fight but he did lose to a good fighter”.
Thornberry is looking to line up sparring with Kali Meehan, who is trained by his former house mate Mark Janssen. “With a good training camp Alex would be a formidable opponent for anyone. Kali would probably give it to him early but Alex will get better. It will be great seasoning for him”.
Leapai is a former Samoan and Australian super heavyweight amateur champion. In his professional debut in 2004, he fought a six round draw with current WBC # 20 Mark De Mori, who was 5-0, 4 KO’s entering the ring. He is unbeaten in his past seven outings scoring five knockouts.