Alex Leapai hopes to deliver Australia's first world heavyweight crown Alex Leapai has surrounded himself with a crack team as he bids to become this country's first world heavyweight champion. IN MY CORNER: Heavy-hitting Alex Leapai is looking to take the next step towards a world heavyweight title bout in November, as Grantlee Kieza reports. AUSTRALIA'S heaviest hitter Alex Leapai has surrounded himself with a crack team as he bids to become this country's first world heavyweight champion. The Brisbane delivery driver with the huge right uppercut will fight Russia's WBO No.1 heavyweight Denis Boystov in Oldenburg, Germany on November 23. The winner will fight Wladimir Klitschko for the world heavyweight title. Australia has never had a world heavyweight champ, though Kali Meehan, father of Rooster Willis Meehan, went close in Las Vegas in 2004, losing a split decision to American Lamon Brewster and Richmond footballer Bill Lang scored a flash knockdown over Canada's world champ Tommy Burns in Melbourne in 1908. Leapai has a top team of sparring partners, former rugby league hitman and one-time world ranked heavyweight Solomon Haumono, former Penrith Panthers junior turned world class heavy Bowie Tupou, kickboxing great Peter Graham and former top-class cruiserweight Danny Withers. The 110kg strongman has also been working with Brisbane strength and conditioning coach Dan Tewson and has recorded massive gains in his punching power. Leapai (29-4-3, 24 KOs) is locked in a battle with Perth's 125kg former cage fighter Lucas Browne, now ranked No.15 by the WBC, to win the heavyweight race and the pair hope to fight a world title bout in Australia next year. Denis Boystov is a big task for Leapai and is unbeaten in 33 fights with 26 KOs. Garth Wood (R) in action against Togasilimai Letoa. GARTH Wood, the former Rabbitohs and Tigers player, will be using the same search-and-destroy tactics he employed to knock out Anthony Mundine, in his bid to crack English hardnut Martin Murray in Sydney on November 30. Murray (25-1-1, 11 KOs) holds the WBA Interim middleweight title and went within a whisker of winning the WBC title when he dropped Argentina's Sergio Martinez before 45,000 fans in Buenos Aires in his last fight. Wood is 12-3-1 (8 KOs). "Garth knows he can't win a boxing contest," said legendary trainer Johnny Lewis, "but he can knock out anyone with his power. I took another middleweight, Peter Mitrevski Jr, to England to fight Murray in 2010 and he gave him a solid fight for 12 rounds for the Commonwealth title. Garth is in there with a puncher's chance. The fight will likely be at the Hordern Pavilion, where Wood's hero Jeff Fenech won the first of his three world titles by stopping Japan's Satoshi Shingaki in 1985. Mundine has been getting great sparring in Brisbane with Olympians Jeff Horn and Cameron Hammond and former world junior champion Clay Waterman. Hammond says The Man will monster faded great Shane Mosley when they fight in Sydney on October 23. Joey Williams (R) in action against Jacques Hendrisson in their draw. ANOTHER former Rabbitohs speedster Joey Williams also has a major fight next month when he faces Brett W. Smith from Queensland's Sunshine Coast for the WBF world lightweight title. The fight will take place on November 7 at the Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane's north on a huge card put together by promoter Angelo Di Carlo. Williams has 10 wins and a draw in 11 fights. Smith has 16 wins and a draw in 19 fights and is a former Australian champion. "The Ginja Ninja" Brent Elliott fights a rematch with Waylon law after their super-featherweight slugfest at the same venue last month and super-bantam Jason Cooper tackles Japan's Yusuke Iju. THE Eatons Hill card will also see Australian middleweight champ Nathan Carroll (10-1-1, 4 KOs) make the first defence of his title against rugged and undefeated Irishman Dennis Hogan (14-0-1, 6 KOs). Both warmed up for the contest last week, Carroll stopping outclassed Thai Decaphon Suwunnalird at the new Boxing Express Gym in Brisbane's Kangaroo Point while Hogan outpointed another Celtic warrior Gavin Prunty at Brisbane's Irish Club. The Carroll-Prunty undercard also saw Frenchman Faris Chavalier stop Shane Parry for the Queensland super-middleweight title, Liam Hutchinson outpoint Michael Dan for the Queensland light-middleweight title and Olympian Todd Kidd outpoint Frenchman Mohamed Larabi. DANIEL Dawson, the No.14 contender for Floyd Mayweather's WBA light-middleweight title - survived a late scare to outpoint veteran American Alex Bunema at the WA Italian Club in Perth on September 20. Dawson (40-3-1, 26 KOs) dominated the fight and was the busier through the first 11 rounds as he landed good body shots, left hooks and uppercuts. But the Congo-born Bunema (31-10-2, 17 KOs) was always dangerous with power shots, though he could not follow through with combinations. Sakio Bika, left, punches Marco A. Periban during a WBC superweight title boxing match in June. Bika won by majority decision. A SHOULDER injury to Australia's WBC super-middleweight champ Sakio Bika has forced the postponement of his October 26 defence against Anthony Dirrell. Bika's rival is the younger brother of Olympic star and leading pro fighter Andrew Dirrell who beat Aussie Victor Oganov and former world champ Arthur Abraham and held Carl Froch to a split decision. Anthony Dirrell, 28, had just started his training camp at the Trigger Boxing Gym in Traverse City, Michigan when Al Haymon - who manages both fighters - told him Bika was injured. Jarrod Fletcher in action against Philip Kotey at the RNA Showgrounds. Pic Darren England Source: CourierMail Fletcher has also challenged Queensland rival Les Sherrington. The current PABA middleweight titleholder has set his sights on dominating what is a strong division both domestically and on the world level. Sherrington, the No.10 ranked WBO middleweight scored a points victory over Japanese southpaw Shigetaka Yonezawa in their 12-round clash at Southport Sharks on September 21. He is now 33-6 (19 KOs). Yonezawa (8-7-2,2 KOs) was a late replacement for Anthony Mundine's conqueror, former world champ Manny Siaca, who was ruled out of the fight with a heart condition which put him into intensive care for five days. FILIPINO Flash Nonito Donaire has laughed off the threat from Aussie Vic Darchinyan that he will destroy him in their rematch on November 9 at the American Bank Centre in Corpus Christi, Texas. The two highly rated featherweight boxers engaged in a feisty word war in their first ever face-to-face confrontation in six years. The 30-year old Donaire is set to resume his quest to become a world champion again after losing to Guillermo Rigondeaux in their super-bantamweight unification bout last April. Donaire gave Darchinyan his first loss with a brutal KO in 2007. TOP Australian light-heavyweight Blake Caparello travelled to Montreal, Canada recently to spar with former world champion Jean Pascal ahead of his IBO title fight with Allan Green in Melbourne on October 17. He also worked with WBA No.4 Eleider Alvarez and decorated amateur Artur Beterbiev. Caparello (17-0-1,9 KOs) is taking no chances against Green (32-4, 22 KOs). The 27-year-old Aussie turned pro in 2009 and has since won the Australian title and other regional belts. He defeated former IBO middleweight title challenger Aaron Pryor Jr. in October 2012 and has won three more fights since. BILLY Dib's team is full of confidence for his rematch with Russian Evgeny Gradovich on the Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios card in Macau, China on November 23. You'll see a different Billy,' said his brother and manager Emaid Dib. He got sucked into a slugfest with Gradovich when Billy's great strength has always been his slick boxing skills. He will be outboxing Gradovich this time and regaining the IBF featherweight title.