I was first introduced to Joseph Parker in September of 2010, at a boxing gym in south Auckland. You'll find plenty of them out that way, and you'll also find hard-working people like Grant Arkell helping young boxers flourish in the sport.
On this particular occasion, Arkell was in the final stages of preparing an 18-year old Parker for his latest amateur adventure to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
It was a different time.
The world was in the middle of a financial crisis, Donald Trump's only concern was working on his orange colouring in the Bahamas, the All Blacks still only had one World Cup to their name, Rafael Nadal was king of the court, and David Tua was still very much New Zealand's king of the ring.
An opportunity at a world heavyweight championship might have seemed a long shot then, but not for Parker. Taking some time out between rounds to have a chat, the young man shared his dream.
"I just want to hopefully become heavyweight champion of the world," he told me.
"That's my ultimate goal."
People can write all the stats and comparisons they like about Parker versus Andy Ruiz; what Parker has that Ruiz doesn't and vice versa. But there's really only one thing Parker will need to create history at Auckland's Vector Arena on Saturday night, something I saw when I spoke to him in that boxing gym all those years ago. It's his character.
Parker hasn't let his rise through the heavyweight ranks change who he is, and that's been just as much a part of his success in the ring, as his fast hands and powerful punches.
If that 18-year-old kid with a dream can turn up on Saturday, it could just be a dream come true.
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