Plenty of Kiwi kids have been inspired by Joseph Parker, but none quite like Pelea Fruean.
The 17-year-old's about to compete at the world youth boxing championships in Hungary and the teenager - nicknamed 'The Phoenix' - didn't need to look far to understand what it would take to get there.
Fruean and Parker are first cousins, and Fruean credits him for getting her involved in the sport five years ago.
"Dad asked me if I would be interested in training with Joe and he lived close. so I kind of just used to walk over to his house and train with him," Fruean told Newshub.
Parker remembers the first encounters fondly.
"She came over and trained, and she was real into it," he says. "I sort of gave her a few sessions here and there, and we trained together for a while.
"She always came prepared and put in 110% all the time. She was always focused from the beginning - that's what I remember."
Fruean would be hard pressed to find a better mentor to help her get into boxing, but Parker's rise up the heavyweight ranks meant the working relationship was short lived.
Not that it mattered, because the One Tree Hill School prefect has made a fist of it since then.
She now regularly competes around Oceania and won bronze at last year's Youth Commonwealth Games, but she hopes for something a little shinier in Budapest.
"I want to medal, I want the gold."
Fruean will be New Zealand's sole representative at the youth tournament, but it's the second time she's competed at the event, something she believes will be an advantage.
"I have a fair idea of my competition and I know the style that I need to go in with."
Freuan's ultimate goal is the 2020 Olympics, a summit even Parker didn't reach, and the former world heavyweight champion thinks she's every chance.
"The progress that I've seen and the competition she's been to, you know, she's been able to get a few medals and that, and I could see the hunger.”
Fruean flew out on Monday and will partake in a week-long training camp, before the competition gets underway on August 23. She continues to heed the advice of older cousin Joe.
"I just remember him after trainings, he would tell me to keep trying. I did and I'm here now."
So while Fruean might've started out following in the footsteps of Parker, she's quickly forging her own career on the big stage.
Newshub.
