DON'T give up, keep the vision, keep moving - that mentality has served Kylie Fulmer well throughout her boxing career thus far and come Wednesday, it could be what carries her to arguably the biggest moment of her career.
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On Wednesday in Townsville, Bathurst native Fulmer will take on Shannon O'Connell for the vacant Australian Female Super Bantam Title. The fight will be part of the highly anticipated Jeff Horn versus Tim Tszyu card and will be broadcast across the globe.
It was a match up which was only confirmed on August 12, meaning Fulmer's preparation has been short. But given her drive to never give up, never lose the vision and keep moving, she feels ready.
After returning to Australia from the US in April, Fulmer trained inside her hotel room while serving her 14-day quarantine period. She kept training after that, pushing herself while running at 2am even though her future was unclear.
"My coach Dewey Cooper always says to us 'You don't have to get ready, stay ready'," Fulmer said.
"When I came home the temptation was there to chill and have a bit of time off, but I didn't miss a beat, I didn't have a day off, I just kept moving.
"Even though things get a bit cloudy and you can't see anything locked in ...I just held the vision and kept rolling.
"It's just crazy, when you're the only one that can see the dream, you've just got to stay in your lane, keep rolling and keep working towards it.
"You start to lose hope yourself a little bit too, but there's something inside that says 'Nup, don't give up, you've got to keep going'. Now it's here and I can't stop smiling."
The last time Fulmer fought was in April 2019, winning via knockout in Germany to see her undefeated through seven professional bouts.
Since then she "had three or fights that fell over when I was out in LA", but Fulmer stayed focused.
Fulmer was in Queensland helping Linn Sandstrom prepare for her fight on the Horn-Tszyu card when she was given the chance to fight as part of the same event.
"It is a shorter prep, normally you'd have at least four to six weeks, not two weeks. I was just happy I hadn't stopped and put the work in since I landed," she said.
"I've had massive week and an awesome finish to fight camp. Everything is on track.
"I feel confident that my fitness is already there, it's just a matter of sharpening up and being ready to peak at just the right time. I did my last sparring session on Thursday and I feel as sharp as ever, so I'm super excited, I can't wait."
Stopping O'Connell - a fighter Fulmer has long respected - will certainly not be easy. Her record stands at 18-6-1.
But across the eight, two minute rounds Fulmer won't give up, she'll keep the vision and she'll keep moving.
"I've got a real challenge ahead of me, but I'm up for that. If you want to be the best, you've got to fight the best and that's where I'm at," she said.
"It's my time, we've both got two fists and one heart and that's the way I look at it. I'm going to fight my fight, I'm going to adapt and just go out there and do what I've been working towards."
