Jack Littlefield knows keeping his undefeated professional record intact in Saturday night's Battle In The Bush will be an 'awkward' task against the debuting David Lembo, but he's also certain he can handle anything the kick-boxing convert throws at him.
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Littlefield's unbridled confidence comes from 'sparring kick-boxers all year', in particular Charlie Bubb.
"Charlie's [the WKBF K1] world champion and he's the [WBC Muay Thai light-heavyweight] world No.1," Littlefield said.
[Lembo] will be awkward and tough too, but he can't be as good as Charlie.
- Jack Littlefield
"I've had a lot of hard rounds with Charlie he's awkward, very hard. You just don't know what he's going to do or what he's going to throw because he switch hits from orthodox to southpaw, and he's insanely fit.
"Going with him gives me a lot of confidence and when I'm fighting a kick-boxer who's converting there'll be be similarities I think. [Lembo] will be awkward and tough too, but he can't be as good as Charlie."
Lembo's discipline shift is all Littlefield knows of the Papua New Guinean, he's not fussed about lack of insight though, he was forced to get used to that before turning professional.
"There were times, especially at the national titles and things like that, I didn't know who my opponents were until a couple of hours before the fight, I'm used to not knowing much," Littlefield said.
"But even if you do know a fighter's strengths and weaknesses they can change from fight-to-fight anyway."
Littlefield's match-up with Lembo is the main event on Saturday night's bumper card, with Bubb also making his professional debut against undefeated Queenslander Asher Wolff as the main undercard fight.
With wins over Ryan Cotten, Haidy Helfy, Michael Dan and Ryan Spencer in the bank, Littlefield's fifth professional fight will also be his second in Orange.
He beat Dan by unanimous decision in front of his home crowd at Towac Park in last year's edition of Battle In The Bush, Saturday night's iteration is the fifth.
"I've had more than 50 fights all up and only two of them have been in Orange, so it's still a novelty," Littlefield said.
"The first one was when I was an amateur so I couldn't enjoy it as much because I was nervous, but last year I loved it, I just enjoyed it and it'll be even better this year with a bigger, better card and a huge crowd.
"I'm very proud to be able to fight as a main event in Orange, I'm really excited."
Along with Littlefield and Bubb, the Littlefield's Boxing team will be heavily represented on Saturday night, with Baden Curren, Luke Patrick, Andrew Abbott, Joe Pearce, Jesse Astill, Toby Collins and Cohen Cartwright all on the undercard as well.
"We've definitely formed a real team, almost family sort of thing here," Littlefield said.
"The friendships we've made through training together are really great and I hope everyone goes I well, actually I know they will because I've seen how much work they've all put in."
The Battle In The Bush 5 is set to kick-off around 5.30pm at Towac Park.
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Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
