ON THE gruelling journey to reach the summit of Mt Coot-tha on Tuesday, and a $6 million deal to fight world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, Alex Leapai stumbled again and again until he fell flat on his face.

Then his old bomb of a car broke down nine times.

From the depths of despair inside a maximum-security prison cell, it took the humble Slacks Creek fighter nine years on a long and wounding road to finally make it to the top of Brisbane's highest point and one of the biggest deals in Australian boxing.

News_Image_File: Boxer Alex Leapai signs $6m contract to fight Wladimir Klitschko for world heavyweight title.

At a press conference on top of Mt Coot-tha, Leapai signed to fight Klitschko at the 12,500-seat Konig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany on April 26 - the first Australian to fight for the unified world heavyweight title since Bill Squires at Sydney Stadium 106 years ago.

He is not fazed by bookies who make the 198cm Klitschko a $1.01 favourite.

"I'm going to Germany to knock him out,'' Leapai said. "He's got 15cm in height on me but he's got a glass jaw and he won't be able to handle my power. He's been knocked out by three guys who can't punch as hard as me.''

Samoan-born Leapai, who still sings in his church choir every Sunday, is guaranteed $1.6 million for the fight on April 26 - double that for a rematch should he win - as well as pay-TV rights in New Zealand and Australia for both bouts.

News_Image_File: Heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

"Really the money is not important,'' he said.

"I'll still be keeping the old Holden and I'll still be living in the same house.

"All I've ever wanted was a safe, stable home for my wife and six kids and to make sure my Mum and Dad are OK.''

Tears sprang up into in Leapai's eyes when his thoughts drifted back to 2005 and how his parents were wailing as he stood in the dock of Beenleigh Magistrates Court and was given six months in the maximum-security Woodford Correctional Centre, north of Brisbane, for beating up bouncers in Caxton Street.

News_Rich_Media: Australian heavyweight boxer Alex Leapai says he has never been in better shape to take on Ukraine's world titleholder Wladimir Klitschko.

"I was ashamed of myself,'' he said. "My Mum and Dad were crying. I knew how hard they had worked to give me a good start in life and I had let down my family and the whole Samoan community.''

Leapai has spent most of his career as a part-time boxer fitting in training around his job as a delivery driver. Until recently, he trained only when work commitments allowed and estimates over the years his old Holden broke down nine times on the way to train at trainer Noel Thornberry's Gatton farm.

Worried that the battered car would not handle the steep road to Mt Coot-tha for the contract signing, Leapai borrowed a friend's vehicle.

He was driving a Toyota Camry but Australian boxing's Cinderella Man might just may as well have been riding in a golden carriage as he continues one of the great stories in Australian sport. A fairytale ride to the very top of the world.