{"id":600651,"date":"2026-04-11T19:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/600651\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T19:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:49:12","slug":"justis-huni-opens-up-on-tragic-passing-of-trainer-keri-fui-ahead-of-frazer-clarke-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/600651\/","title":{"rendered":"Justis Huni opens up on tragic passing of trainer Keri Fui ahead of Frazer Clarke fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justis Huni<\/a> was forced to pull himself out of a \u201cnegative space\u201d following the devastating and unexpected passing of his head coach, Keri Fui.<\/p>\n

The pair were gearing up for a rematch with Kiki Leutele in December, which would have been Huni\u2019s first outing since his dramatic showdown with Fabio Wardley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But instead of fighting on the Gold Coast, the Australian was left to process the sudden loss of Fui<\/a>, who ultimately died from a coma after collapsing in the gym.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Boxing News, Huni recalled his emotions in the wake of this tragic event, where he and his strength and conditioning coach had offered medical assistance to their friend and teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was difficult at the time. It was a big thing for myself and my S&C trainer, to lose someone so close to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt set me back a fair bit. I didn\u2019t train for a while, but I needed to come back. The only thing that was going to make me happy, and pull me out of that negative space, was getting back into training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just had to take a bit of time for myself, but now it\u2019s time for the comeback. [Fui] was like a best friend to me, not just a coach. So, when he passed away, I told myself that everything I do from here will be for myself and for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now training with Aussie coach Josh Arnold, it seems that Huni is determined to honour Fui with a victory in his next assignment, which will see him face Frazer Clarke on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The pair will collide on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov at London\u2019s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Huni returning to the UK following his 10th-round stoppage defeat to Wardley last June.<\/p>\n

Prior to the finish, the 26-year-old had crafted a handy lead with his superior IQ and fluid movement, only for a signature right hand from Wardley to halt proceedings in stunning fashion.<\/p>\n

Huni, however, has only benefited from the overall experience at Portman Road, the home of Ipswich Town Football Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed it. It was a big lesson to go over there, fighting in his backyard, and walk out to a full stadium of people booing me. But it was a good experience. It\u2019s something I\u2019ll never forget, and I took a lot away from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went into that fight with a short camp, a few injuries, and had no expectations. But I feel like that was the best I\u2019ve ever fought, so I\u2019ll be looking to come back over there and fight exactly the same [way].\u201d<\/p>\n

While he must first take care of business against Clarke, Huni can certainly see himself entering a rematch with Wardley, the WBO world champion, at some point down the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fabio Wardley fight was just a rare occasion; I never thought I would take a fight that big so early on in my career.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it happened, and I showed that I belong on that stage, so the sky\u2019s the limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love the rematch. I believe that with a full camp, and going into it injury-free, it would be a lot different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wardley, of course, must remain focused on defending his WBO title against Daniel Dubois on May 9, while Huni has been presented with no easy touch against Olympic bronze medallist Clarke, either.<\/p>\n

But while their potential rematch might seem a million miles away, Huni will surely be gunning for a revenge mission in the not too distant future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Justis Huni was forced to pull himself out of a \u201cnegative space\u201d following the devastating and unexpected passing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-600651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}