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'If it's for a good cause, I'd love to get in the ring with Mike Tyson'
Sonny Bill Williams says the prospect of stepping inside the ring with American boxing legend Mike Tyson would be a “career highlight”.
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Reports emerged last week of boxing promoter Brian Amatruda’s attempt to cash in on Tyson’s rumoured comeback through a charity bout against one of several sports stars – with reports that an offer of $1 million was on the table.
Amatruda has promoted cards featuring the likes of Danny Green, Lucas Browne and Anthony Mundine, and said several of the part-time boxers who bring in big audiences in Australia – including Williams, NRL legend Paul Gallen and AFL great Barry Hall – would fill Australian arenas if paired up against Tyson.
Tyson recently rubbished the reports of potentially facing Williams, calling them “totally false” on Twitter, before deleting the post, but that hasn’t stopped Williams from weighing in on the prospect of fighting one of the best boxers in heavyweight history.
Williams told the Sydney Morning Herald he’d followed Tyson’s career from a young age, and said it would be an honour to get in the ring with him.
“I grew up watching Tyson and his fights,” said Williams. “It’s hard not to admire the power and ferocity of Tyson like so many other sports people around the world.
“It would be a humbling and surreal moment in my life to stare at him and know I was facing one of the greats of the sport. It would be an honour… a career highlight to share the ring with an iconic figure of world sport.
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“If it’s for a good cause, I’d love to get in the ring with Mike Tyson.”
Tyson first sparked chatter about a potential comeback after wowing fans in a ferocious sparring session in a video that went viral, but nothing about returning to the ring has come from the man himself.
Regardless of the return, according to Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech, Tyson would still put Sonny Bill Williams “in the morgue” if they were to meet in the ring.
Fenech, a good friend and former trainer of Tyson, said the fight is “not going to happen”, but if it did, it wouldn’t end well for the former footballers.
“Great publicity, but it’s not going to happen,” Fenech told the Sydney Morning Herald. “They’re offering him half a million or a million dollars — he could get more than $20 million to do it in Saudi Arabia. Why would he come here?
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“Let me tell you something. If he hits Sonny Bill Williams or Paul Gallen, he will be up for manslaughter.
One of the cruellest sporting moments in rugby history 😞
Springbok legend @BryanHabana reacts to the pivotal moment in the 2009 Lions Series.
Catch his full reaction to the 2nd test on our YouTube straight after we stream the full match. Game starts at 3pm UK time and 4pm SA. pic.twitter.com/JPapSvOvMw
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 9, 2020
“I’m serious. If he punched Paul Gallen, he could kill him. These guys have never been punched by somebody like Mike.
“You see what he’s doing to the pads, imagine Mike hitting one of those guys with one of those uppercuts. More than likely they will be in the morgue the next day.
“Fighting Sonny Bill? Who has Sonny Bill fought? Sonny Bill won’t even fight Paul Gallen because I don’t believe he can beat him.”
In the initial report, Amatruda claimed he had already begun the process of trying to get Tyson to Australia.
“The first thing I did was contact (celebrity agent) Max Markson and ask him to offer Tyson $1 million,” he said. “Max brought him to Australia in 2012. He gets on well with him and his wife but the main thing is that he got him a visa to get into the country back then and that’s the key.”
Tyson got a visa to visit in Australia in 2012, a week after he was denied one by the New Zealand government, due to being convicted of rape in the US in 1992.
As for Williams, the former All Blacks centre is now with the Toronto Wolfpack in the UK Super League, and was reported to be in talks to return to the ring next year against Hall.
Williams has a 7-0 professional record, but has not fought in a pro bout since 2015, or a charity bout since 2018.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
35 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
35 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
35 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
35 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
35 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
35 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
35 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to comments