BOXING
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WELL-performed Wagga boxer Anthony McCracken is staring down one if his biggest pay days as he prepares to take part in a unique event in New Zealand next month.
McCracken only just returned from a weekend of promotional shoots in Sydney as he prepares to tackle the southern hemisphere's best cruiserweight boxers in the Super Eight - Last Man Standing tournament.
Sky Arena will gather Australia and New Zealand's best cruiserweight boxers in Auckland on November 22 where they will go head to head in a knockout tournament known as "last man standing tournament".
The heavyweight version of "last man standing' proved a huge success in New Zealand and an expected crowd of 15,000 people will turn out for the cruiserweight edition next month.
McCracken could walk away with the first prize of $50,000 should he win the event, plus up to $21,000 in bonuses should he knock all three opponents out.
The experienced Wagga boxer described the event as one of the biggest fights of his career.
"It's fairly big, it's the only time you will see the best cruiserweights from Australia and New Zealand together all on the one night," McCracken said.
"I'm very excited.
"There is a couple of guys in there I haven't fought and a couple from New Zealand I don't know much about."
The idea will see eight boxers start the knockout 'tournament'.
A draw is conducted to determine which boxers compete against each other in the quarter finals.
The winners then progress through to the semi-finals, and then the grand final.
All fights consist of three, three minute rounds, with an extra round required in the event of the draw.
The winning boxer must win three fights on the night to succeed.
McCracken is confident he can claim the title.
"I like my chances, they're as good as everyone else," he said.
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't think I could win.
"The beauty of it is that it's anyone's game, it's a unique format.
"It's not something that you do all of the time and it's not going to pan out how everyone thinks."
McCracken, 31, has been training with new trainer Terry Neason for the past three months.
He has focused on explosive, sprint and strength work in the lead up to this event.
As a lead-up, he will fight at Joe Williams' fight night in Wagga on October 18.