Ben Bommber, for a time, was going to sleep at night inside a boxing ring.

Pillow, blankets, all of it.

Which wasn’t so much a choice, he says now, as just how things go when you’re living in a Melbourne gym for what starts out as weeks, turns into months, and eventually runs three years of your young life.

“So every night, yeah, you’re moving around trying new spots to sleep,” he recalls.

Which isn’t easy, sure.

But nor is selling everything you own.

Which is also what this young fighter, and his incredibly supportive father, did only last year as part of an Australian fight story nobody knows anything about.

But come May 24, you will.

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Understanding how on that night, and inside Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena, this undefeated super welterweight – and fighter in every sense – will emerge from obscurity to throw down against no less than Nikita Tszyu.

And the Tszyu story?

That one, you know well.

Everybody does.

But The Bommber?

Well, he’s not the son of a Hall of Fame fighter, but an excavator driver named Bronco.

That, and a schoolboy dropout who, around the time Nikita Tszyu was leaving boxing to study architecture, was himself quitting the classroom aged 14 to do nothing but fight.

“Because you only get one life, one shot,” he says by way of explanation.

“So staying in school? There was no point.

“I wasn’t going to university.

“So I’ve decided to study boxing instead … give the sport absolutely everything.”

Which hasn’t always been easy for a fighter who, by his own admission, “moved around a bit” in his teens – including those years spent bunking down at a gym with his old man and younger brother Jesse.

“But that’s life,” Bommber says simply. “When I was growing up, we’d had a house. But then things happened, we moved, that’s it.

“You often hear fighters say ‘oh, I’m living in the gym’ … well, I really was living in the gym.”

Which wasn’t without its obstacles.

“Moved around a bit, looking for the best spots to sleep,” he grins. “We mainly lived in an upstairs room but I tried sleeping downstairs too.”

So as for whispers you even slept in the boxing ring?

“Yeah, everywhere,” he confirms, smile widening at the memory. “But it would get too cold down there. No heating.

“So eventually I would move back up again.”

Yet his greatest sacrifice?

That has come only in the past 12 months.

When with Bommber undefeated through four fights, and wanting so much more, he decided to pack his bags and head Stateside, seeking knowledge, growth, even a new trainer in Las Vegas.

Which, of course, doesn’t come cheap.

And why the fighter, first off, sold his prized dirt bike.

Which was a start, sure.

But nowhere near enough.

So days later, his old man, who owns a small earthworks company, then agreed to sell his truck.

Then from there, as Bommber recalls it, “everything else we owned”.

The first play in what now sees this young Aussie boasting a corner which includes popular US trainer Rodney Crisler and Curtis Henderson, a strength and conditioning coach out of the Floyd Mayweather gym.

“But dad, he’s my best mate,” Bommber says when asked to explain the old man’s generosity.

“I started kickboxing aged five. I’m now 21.

“And in all that time he hasn’t missed more than two of my training sessions.”

Which, undoubtedly, is no small thing.

Even if it was made a little easier during those three years they all sparred, sweated, ate and slept inside that same Melbourne gym.

Asked if, during that time, he ever questioned his decision to chase a fighting future, Bommber replies: “Oh, of course.

“But everyone has those types of thoughts at some stage. Asking yourself, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’

“But every day, you just keep showing up. Continue to work.

“Trust the process and trust God.”

So you lean heavily on your faith?

“I’m not someone who goes to church or anything like that,” the fighter continues. “But I believe in God and pray to him every night. Again every morning.

“I believe He will put me where I’m meant to be.”

Which for a time, was a small unit in Las Vegas.

While now boasting a strong sponsorship team who, only last month, sent Bommber back to the US as part of an extensive Tszyu preparation, his first trip in 2022 wasn’t anywhere near as easy.

“These days with the sponsors I have – I’m blessed,” he says.

“But first time around, my family pretty much sold everything we had.

“I knew how important it was to get over to the US and make those first initial connections.

“So I sold my dirt bike. My old man sold his truck. Everything.

“You just do what you’ve gotta do. Get the money from wherever you can.”

Crucially, and as a result of that sacrifice, Bommber is now partnered up in a working relationship with coach Crisler — who also works on the team of no less than US lightweight king Devin Haney.

So impressed is Crisler with the rising Aussie fighter, he not only agreed to train Bommber right throughout his most recent visit to the world’s fight capital, but is also planning to come Down Under and corner for the Tszyu fight.

All of which is some commitment considering Haney’s own headliner against Vasyl Lomachenko takes place only days earlier.

“The amount of time Rodney has spent with me — incredible,” Bommber explains. “Obviously he’s also preparing for Devin Haney to fight Lomachenko, one of the biggest fights in the world.

“But while I was in the US he was doing two, three sessions a day with me.

“He’s also said he will fly over to Australia for my fight, which speaks volumes.”

On Nikita Tszyu meanwhile, Bommber has already made his thoughts clear – describing him as a “name” with solid punching power.

He also warns the Tszyu camp are more concerned than usual about this upcoming fight, pointing to a push to limit their showdown to just six rounds.

“So they’re definitely cautious,” he says.

“And I know because we’re not fighting eight rounds like I asked.

“Nikita Tszyu is 25 years old. He’s in peak condition.

“Yet he can’t do more than six rounds?

“Everyone knows he comes out strong, blasts opponents.

“But he should be fighting past six rounds at this point.

“Fans want to see eight rounds, 10 rounds. And that’s what we wanted, too.

“But they’re telling us ‘no he isn’t ready’, that he only wants six.”

Regardless, the fella who once slept in a boxing ring isn’t concerned.

“Because after this fight, all the doors open,” he says. “The possibilities are endless.

“Right now, I can’t say too much.

“But even over in Las Vegas … yeah, there will be doors that open for me.”