It's Friday afternoon and Tyson Lantry is dog tired. He has been in Canberra for the week working hard with his boxing trainer Jamie Pittman.
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Three sessions a day, every day, rain or shine. All up, five hours a day of hard yakka.
First up, loads of strength work, then home to rest up. Then it's roadwork, getting endurance into the legs. Any hills he can find, all the better.
Late in the day it's back to the gym for some conditioning and skill work on the pads or in the ring. And then home again, a big feed and sleep ... before more of the same tomorrow. There's no letting up.
For the Maitland-born boxer, by the time Friday comes around, he's out on his feet. But then, regular as clockwork, at the end of the day he will drag himself to the car and drive the five hours - four-and-a-half if he gets a good run - up the M31 to Newcastle to spend what little is left of the week with his partner of two years Jasmine, and his two boys, Kaiden, 7, and youngest son Arlo.
Come Sunday, he'll hit the road again, driving back to Canberra, another hit-and-run visit complete.
Boxing a tough sport? You'd better believe it.
But for Lantry, 27, as hard as it is, the grind is worth it. At the end of next month he has his biggest fight to date, against the impressive Paul "Showtime" Fleming on the undercard of the Tim Tszyu versus Dennis Hogan fight at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on March 31.
Make no mistake, it's the chance he has been waiting for, and he'll be based in Canberra right up to fight time.
It doesn't sit too well with Kaiden, though, who is hurting. He misses his dad and is happy to let him know it.
It's hard, jumping in the car and seeing them in the rear view mirror as you drive off. And it's hard on Jasmine too . . . but this is what I want to do.
- Tyson Lantry
"Yeah, Arlo is only four and he runs a bit hot and cold, he doesn't seem to worry too much, but Kaiden feels it for sure," Lantry says. "He knows when I go I'm going for the week.
"It's hard, jumping in the car and seeing them in the rear view mirror as you drive off. And it's hard on Jasmine too. I'm not there to help her with the kids and the day to day things.
"A phone call from Canberra at the end of the day isn't the same thing.
"But this is what I want to do. I"m committed to being the best fighter I can be, and this is part of the sacrifice you have to make."
Fleming is serious quality. A former Commonwealth Games and Australian Olympian fighter, he is at the very top of his game with an imposing record of 26 wins and one draw. No defeats.
The draw, in fact, was the result of a head clash in his last fight against Tanzanian Bruno Tarimo, holder of the International Boxing Federation's Super Featherweight title and Interim World Boxing Association Oceania Super Featherweight champion.
But for any fighter, step up in class and you step up on payday too. For a battling fighter like Lantry with a young family, that means a lot. This fight could open doors.
In his own words, "my dream is right in front of me".
Lantry - Golden Boy to give him his fight name - scored a convincing upset win over another classy opponent, Luke Jackson, in his last fight. That got him this fight. Another win here and the sky's the limit.
Having said that, there's no denying that Lantry's record of eight wins and three losses is modest by comparison.
Underdog? Yes, and then some. But it should be pointed out that two of three losses were when he wasn't fighting under Pittman, when he "struggled a bit" both in his training and his commitment. The other loss was way back in 2015 when he was a kid.
Now that Lantry and Pittman have joined forces again, you're talking a different fighter altogether. Ask Luke Jackson who was also an overwhelming favourite.
"I have my team around me again and it makes the world of difference to me," Lantry says. "Training on your own is never the same. I feed off the vibe of my team. This is altogether different."
So Fleming's reputation won't worry him.
Originally from Tully in Queensland, Fleming fights these days out of Penrith. He fought as a featherweight at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in 2006. At 33, he's experienced, at his peak and classy.
It's a fact that Lantry is happy to acknowledge.
"He's just a really good all round fighter. Good defence, good all round skills, he's consistent and sticks to the job."
Training so hard, the drop from his normal fighting weight of 61.2 kilos to super featherweight (59.7 kilos) won't worry Lantry.
In his mind, there's no doubt. He'll make the weight and he'll go the distance if that's what it takes.
"I'll get in there, put the pressure on him, same as I did with Brooks," Lantry says.
After the fight though, it's family time. Kaiden will love it. There's no doubt about that either.