What has taken four years and 19 professional fights to painstakingly achieve can tonight be undone with one simple mistake.
If Joseph Parker were to walk into a punch from the powerful right hand of Solomon Haumono at Horncastle Arena in Christchurch, he could lose far more than just the fight.
An unlikely defeat against the veteran Australian would see the disappearance of Parker's mandatory challenger tag for the IBF heavyweight belt. The opportunity of a world title fight against Anthony Joshua would become a distant memory, while Parker's unbeaten record would be ruined.
All of the Kiwi's hard work, his steady ascent up the heavyweight ranks, could be wrecked in one cruel moment.
"If we have a setback then we have to start again," Parker said on the eve of his 20th professional bout.
"There's a target on my back and every wants this position, because this is life-changing.
"We have to stay more focused now and it has changed my mindset - I'm just determined to get to my goal. I want to keep what I have, and get more."
Being denied that goal - a title shot against Joshua as early as the end of the year - does appear improbable as Parker prepares to step back into the ring.
Haumono, a former league player, is a journeyman and viewed by most as a step backwards after Parker's impressive points victory over Carlos Takam in May. But Haumono has a fierce right hand and, as Parker showed against Takam, his concentration could lapse.
In that bout in Manukau, the hometown hero experienced a mid-fight lull, when his energy levels were lacking, his hands dropped and he stood too tall.
The Parker camp struggled to pinpoint just what went wrong but, as trainer Kevin Barry explained, they knew history must be prevented from repeating.
"If we have a lapse at the wrong time, we can lose everything that we've worked to achieve for the last three and a half years, with one punch," Barry said. "We've addressed that many times in this training camp."
Friends of the veteran trainer have asked why this training camp is even happening, why Parker's shot - and the purse that will come with it - is being risked by pitting him against someone with Haumono's power?
But like the Australian, who has earned 21 knockouts in his 28-fight career, Joshua also boasts menace in his right fist, and Barry wants his young charge to be cognisant of what it's like facing such a threat.
"We weren't just going to sit there on the shelf after we got Joe a shot at the heavyweight title," Barry said. "I want to win this title and the way we're going to win is to keep improving and keep developing. We're nowhere near the finished product yet."
Tomorrow night's fight will help in that quest, as will another to be confirmed for Invercargill in September. Yet Parker knows a boxer must be myopic, lest he miss what is heading right in his direction.
"There's always things in the back of your head about what can happen in the future," he said. "But you have to look at what's in front of you - this guy's going to try to knock you out."
