LEPPINGTON’S most valuable export has traditionally been flowers grown in the semi-rural expanses of Sydney’s south-west rim.
But the suburb’s bouquets yesterday took a back seat when local teenage boxing sensation Lenny Zappavigna flew to Los Angeles for a chance-of-a-lifetime stint at Hollywood’s world-renowned Wild Card gym.
There, under the eye of US training doyen Freddie Roach, the Australian lightweight title- holder will spend a month sparring the superstar stable’s prized fighter – three-time world champ Manny Pacquiao.
Zappavigna, 19, was given only a few days to pack for the solo trip from Leppington.
The dream deal was struck almost as an afterthought last week over a lunch between manager Billy Hussein and Roach.
Hussein was in LA first and foremost to watch Vic Darchinyan – who he trains – defend the IBO/IBF flyweight belts.
But a chance turn in table talk towards preparations for Pacquiao’s WBC super featherweight defence in Texas next month brought Zappavigna’s name into play.
“Manny Pacquiao came up and we got talking about possible sparring partners,” Hussein said. “Pacquiao’s assistant trainer Justin Fortune is Australian and he remembered Lenny and agreed to have him come over and help out.
“This is a big thing we are talking about – a 19-year-old Australian from the back of nowhere going to the Wild Card gym.”
Pacquiao was last year rated the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
But his fearsome reputation didn’t prompt any second thoughts for Zappavigna, who has had just six pro fights.
“He’s one of the greatest going around,” Zappavigna said before his flight yesterday.
“But I’m going to try and put it on him. I’ll be full on (during sparring) because this is my chance to prove myself against the world’s best.”
After winning bronze as crowd favourite at last year’s Commonwealth Games, Zappavigna was urged to stay in the amateur ranks until the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
But he ignored that advice, and won a national belt on just his fifth pro outing.
“It would have been really, really hard to get a go at the Olympics,” he said.
“Maybe I would have wasted two or three years – it just wasn’t worth it.”
