Saturday, the 24-year-old will face American gatekeeper Courtney Pennington at Rumours International in Toowoomba.

Pennington has lost his last six fights coming into the eight-round contest, but he regularly gives rounds to top fighters including Raul Curiel (KO 10), Custio Clayton (SD 10) and, most recently, Giovani Santillan (UD 10).

"That level of experience is valuable," Griffiths (19-0, 10 KOs) told The Ring. "He's an experienced fighter who’s been in with some very good opponents, so it’s a great opportunity for me to learn and test myself.

“It's about seeing where I'm at and continuing to improve. Fighting someone who’s been in with that caliber of opposition gives me a chance to learn a lot. I've got a lot of respect for what he's done in the sport, and I’m just focused on putting in my best performance."

Griffiths grew up on a farm in the country and has a deep love for the outdoors and enjoys motorbikes, water skiing, fishing and horse riding.

His first love was horses and he helped break them in for Brad Smith, who had been a boxing trainer. After a few weeks boxing came into the conversation and later on Smith showed him a few moves.

After six weeks of training Griffiths had his first and only amateur fight.

When Smith became ill, his son Brendon, who trained amongst others Michael Katsidis, started training Griffiths and has guided him since. Such is the bond between fighter and the Smith family. Griffiths still lives with Brendon's mother, Esmay.

Griffiths honed his skills overseas before turning professional 19 in March 2021.

He’s steadily moved through the ranks.

"I think I'm still building," he said. "I'm improving with every fight, but I know there's always more to learn. I'm just taking it one fight at a time, listening to my team and making sure I'm ready when those bigger opportunities come."

Griffiths, who is a qualified electrician, is keeping things simple and not setting particular targets yet.

"I want to keep gaining experience, facing good opponent and developing as a fighter,” he said. “If I can do that consistently, the bigger opportunities will come naturally."

Smith recognizes this is an important learning curve in his fighter’s development.

"We have a lot of respect for Courtney," he said. "He's coming off 10 rounds late in January, so he is fit. Jackson has one amateur fight and has been learning on the job with every fight. Now he gets to fight his first opponent from the USA, who has been fighting very good fighters."

Pennington (17-12-3, 7 KOs) turned pro in 2012. The 39-year-old from New York has upset Greg Vendetti (UD 10) and James Martin (UD 10) before falling into the role of opponent.