Almost as far as some of his looping right hands travel.

"This year he's been doing sessions of 10 rounds of sparring, and working with professional fighters," co-trainer Shane Wells said from the backyard gym he runs with co-trainer Daniel Ford, at Blackalls Park.

And it hasn't taken long for the word to get around.

"A lot of his opponents now are pulling out of our fights," Wells said.

Manyang, 17, will be guaranteed some opposition when he contests the junior middleweight (71kg) division at the Australian amateur titles in Mackay, Queensland, starting on Tuesday.

Wells is confident that Manyang will go one better than his split-points loss in the welterweight (67kg) division gold medal fight in Halekulani last year.

"He'll start as the red hot favourite in Mackay," Wells said.

But the Sudanese-born boxer takes nothing for granted.

He knows from experience that the result of amateur bouts can come down to the toss of a coin.

Wells said Manyang's physical attributes provided him with some obvious advantages.

"Firstly, there's his fitness, but in the 71kg division, his opponents are generally shorter than him," Wells said.

An orthodox boxer, Manyang makes good use of his reach advantage, and likes to team a stiff left jab with a booming right that can come from a variety of angles.

"But it is his will, his desire, and his dedication that really impresses me," Wells said.

A year 11 student at Toronto High School, Manyang will be joined at the Australian titles by Elijah Matikainen, 20, of Rathmines, who recently joined the eight young boxers at the Wells-Ford gym, after moving to the area from Longreach, Queensland.