One of the world's most promising fighters carries with him a tragic distress that no world title or multimillion dollar pay-day can fix, but Jaidon Codrington will nonetheless pursue these things because tragedy will spark, not conclude, his story.
At 24, Codrington has the world at his feet but no longer a father to watch his back. Jamesy Codrington snr took his own life on August 11 last year aged 49, while his youngest son was competing in The Contender reality television show.
The heavy favourite, Codrington used his father's passing to storm into the final only to lose an epic battle against Sydney's Sakio Bika for the crown and $800,000 prizemoney - he was stopped in the eighth round in a candidate for the 2007 fight of the year.
Codrington has not fought since that loss last November. He still yearns to speak once more with the man who instilled in him the discipline and fortitude that has made him a genuine world champion prospect in the super-middleweight division.
He had never understood the complex layers of depression until he got the worst phone call of his life. "What they go through behind closed doors, is a whole lot," Codrington told the Herald .
"It's funny because somebody can act like everything is cool in front of you, they can fake it so well that you never know what they're going through.
"But when you're on your own there's nobody around to fool, and you're left with the demons in your mind.
"If I could have talked to him one more time I think it would have changed things drastically. I still feel he would be here."
The New Yorker lunched with Bika in an Arncliffe chicken shop on Thursday. Codrington is in Australia after linking with local promoters and revealed he may fight regularly in Sydney and Melbourne.
He and Bika joked and talked about their plans but their anticipated rematch may still be a year or two away. Bika fights Peter Manfredo in Rhode Island on November 13, and Codrington will make his long-awaited return to the ring on the undercard against an unnamed opponent.
"There are a couple of reasons [it has taken so long]," Codrington said. "Firstly, I wanted to take my time, I didn't want to be that person, that fighter, who lost in the final.
"I made some mistakes. I have all the potential, all the skill in the world, but I wasn't making the most of it. I wanted to take my time to come back to a different future, and now I'm ready for that next level of opportunity.
"Also, sometimes I didn't feel that there was the right opportunity there for me, but now I have some good people working for me, and it's the right time to return, and I hope I can do so successfully."
Codrington, whose record is 18-2 with 14 knockouts, is a former Golden Gloves champion with speed and power who was touted as a world-beater after just nine fights - all by KO.
He was then pitted against an undefeated banger in Allan Green, and within 20 seconds was hit with such ferocity his limp body slumped against the ropes and to the canvas. Some stunned members of the audience feared for his life.
"[My career] started so fast, so hot. Every time they put somebody in front of me I would destroy them. I had to keep stepping up just to get a test as I was destroying everybody," he said. "Ultimately, I maybe didn't need to step up so fast … I know I ended up better for it."
Codrington regained prominence through The Contender but was rocked by his father's suicide and Bika's right hand. "I am not the type of person to crumble, it is not in my make-up at all. I'm the type of person where, when the going gets rough, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get it going again," he said.
"Growing up, me and my father had a strictly business relationship. I messed up, and he kicked my arse. He was the type of person to say if you're going to do something, give it your all.
"Then as the years went on we began to learn about each other a little bit more and I started to figure out who he was and we became friends. When I lost him, it was really when when he started being my friend."
As one chapter closes for Codrington, the next begins.