Jonathan Guidry already stepped away from his day job to prepare for his next scheduled fight.

When the call came to challenge undefeated WBA “World” heavyweight titlist Trevor Bryan, the decision was a no-brainer for the unbeaten fringe contender and full-time fisherman.

“I don’t think no one’s ever had a world title from Louisiana or where I’m from,” Guidry told BoxingScene.com and other reporters during a recent Zoom media conference call of the late-notice assignment. “It’s a big opportunity for me to show my talent, that I can fight.

“Not a lot of people can say they fought on a Don King card or fought on his show. I’m grateful that he’s letting me fight on this show and fight for the world title. Without him, I might still be on my shrimping boat or still be crabbing or something. He’s actually giving me a chance to display my talent.”

Guidry (17-0-2, 10KOs) was already due to face Alonzo Butler on the undercard of a January 29 Don King Pay-Per-View event at Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio. The 32-year-old heavyweight from Dulac, Louisiana was bumped up to the co-feature slot when former secondary titlist Mahmoud Charr was forced out of his rescheduled fight with Bryan (21-0, 15KOs) over failure to secure a P-1 travel visa in time to make the trip from Germany.

It’s a big step up in class for Guidry, whose last fight—an eight-round win over Rodney Moore last August in Laurel, Mississippi—marked the only time he has fought past six rounds, or even outside of Louisiana.

The rest of his career has been spent no more than two hours from home and fighting in relative obscurity. Never mind opposition, the closest that Guidry has come to even fighting on a notable show were undercard appearances of back-to-back New Orleans shows in 2018 headlined by Regis Prograis, his stablemate under renowned cornerman Bobby Benton. Beyond that, he has spent his time juggling boxing with his daily routine of shrimping and crabbing with his father, Paul and business partner James Duplechin.

For now, the day job is on hold and perhaps for good if things go as he expects on January 29.

“We stopped around November shrimping and crabbing and stuff,” notes Guidry. “I’ve been doing two-a-day training. I lost—easily—30 pounds. I’m in way better shape. I can focus a lot more on boxing doing two-a-days. I feel a lot better and a lot stronger. We’re ready.”

Headlining the January 29 PPV event, WBC cruiserweight titlist Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu (28-2, 25KOs) faces Thabiso Mchunu (23-5, 13KOs) in a mandatory title fight and rematch to their May 2015 clash, which Makabu won via eleventh-round stoppage in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox