Boxing: Sonny Bill Williams, Paul Gallen eye fitting end to decade-long war of words
Sonny Bill Williams and Joseph Parker promote Williams' fight against Paul Gallen.
Photo:
RNZ/Marika Khabazi
In a war of words that has lasted nearly a decade, former All Black Sonny Bill Williams wants to put a fullstop on exchanges with Australian rugby league legend Paul Gallen.
Williams is clear about the finale he plans for the
long-awaited boxing bout
between the two that will take place on 16 July at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena.
"God willing, give him a good hiding and walk off into the sunset.
"It's not a Rugby World Cup or NRL title or Super Rugby title, but I don't want to lose him. He can say this, I can say that, but it just comes down to who's worked hard, who's taking shortcuts and who lands the better punches on the night."
Williams is not a fan of trash-talk, but he said keeping quiet had not always served him well.
Both boxers have won world cups and premierships on the footy field, and they have knocked opponents out in the ring. They are two "proper household names" who do not have much left to prove, but this bout of eight two-minute rounds is personal for Williams.
"I think, for myself to get back in the ring after three years to actually do something of this magnitude, there needed to be that animosity just to light that fire up. Otherwise, what's the point of doing it?"
"The way that he conducts himself and he carries himself, and how he speaks about me, Williams said.
"I look at it like, for me, I'm representing my Polynesian brothers. For example, calling me a dummy... I see it playing alongside these type of individuals and being in the sheds with these type of individuals, where they suck up all the oxygen.
"As Polynesians, we're taught to be quiet and be respectful, and don't speak unless you're spoken to, and because we don't say anything, all of a sudden, it means that we're dumb.
"Doesn't mean that we don't have opinions, it doesn't mean that we don't have brains, but we just let them speak. I think him looking at that, speaking like that, really observing the way that he's conducted himself, I really think that he thinks he's better than us."
Williams has that motivation against a man four years his senior and someone he sees as a polar opposite, when it comes to the publicly promoting a fight.
Sonny Bill Williams: "When it comes to trash-talking, that's not my go."
Photo:
RNZ/Marika Khabazi
The former NZ heavyweight boxing champion, with a nine-win, one-loss career record, has been left to promote this bout by himself. Gallen has not fronted alongside Williams on either side of the Tasman.
"When it comes to trash-talking, that's not my go. I don't get involved in that kind of game, I never have in any of my fights.
"With Paul, it's second-hand nature - this flows off the tongue.
"All I did was speak the truth, speak facts and, all of a sudden, I've hurt him," Williams said of the first time he spoke, when Gallen was a no show. "I've upset him with one low blow of attack on this and that, you know - it's just facts."
Williams has been training on the Gold Coast with Australian professional boxer Jai Opetaia for four weeks, away from his wife and five children.
"I'm a real visual learner," he said. "Although I've had 10 fights, it's been over the space of 15 years, so every time I get back in the ring, it's like doing it again, starting all over again.
"This camp, I wanted to be around world class fighters, so I could learn the skillset needed, but also the mental side of things.
"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that he wants to fight in close and I want to fight at distance, but at the same time, we'll train accordingly. He won't have to go looking for me in the ring.
"I'm prepping to stop him, but I'm prepping for eight rounds as well."
Like Williams, Gallen retired from the ring in 2022, after a lucrative second sporting career for the man who played 348 NRL games and won the 2013 Rugby League World Cup with the Kangaroos
.
Gallen had 18 fights - most against former footy players - but he also stopped a former heavyweight champion and knocked out New Zealand's Junior Fa.
Former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker believed Williams was doing the right things to prepare for a fight billed as the biggest trans-Tasman grudge match of all time.
"[Gallen's] a brawler," Parker said. "He throws big shots, but Sonny can learn from the best.
"He's training with Jai and his team, learning from the best and picking up what he needs to pick up on, so he can come out there and dominate."
Parker's advice for Williams: "Just stay calm.
"Start calm and composed, because if you switch on the Samoan side, which we both have, then that's brawling back.
"In moments like that, you just have to remain calm, remember what you've been learning, remember what you've been working on and and put it all on display, because this is his time to put it all on display."
Williams and Gallen are big personalities that are still drawcards, despite their sporting peaks being in the rearview mirror.
Their fight is a boxing promoter's dream and Duco Events' David Higgins said "there's a few magic ingredients at play" for this bout.
Gallen v SBW - a boxing promoter's dream.
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
"First of all, you've got two proper household names, legends... people who've been at the very top of the highest level of sport, and incredibly competitive athletes that almost everyone in New Zealand and Australia knows who these guys are.
"Second magic ingredient is you've got history. This fight has been brewing, probably for 10 years, with callouts and negotiations that fall apart, and on again, off again, on again... it just makes things bigger, when it brews so long.
"Third, it's a proper 50/50 fight. Most pundits can't pick who they think will win.
"There's a really good argument why Sonny Bill will win this fight - he's got height, his reach, he's a good boxer. In another life, he could have been a top boxer with that skillset.
"Then you've got Paul Gallen, who never quits rough and tumble, so flip a coin and I think that gets people intrigued as well.
"Then there's parochialism - you've got a New Zealand v Australia ingredient, you've got rugby union v rugby league.
"There's quite a lot going on with this promotion and, as it reaches its crescendo, I think everyone's going to be talking about it and is going to tune in."
For Williams, getting back in the ring has not been an easy road, but one he believes needed to happen.
"The one thing I've missed since retiring is just that nervous energy, that nervous buzz, when you go out, and it's either sink or swim. It'll be a nice way to finish off, to close the chapter."
Two other Kiwis will face off on the undercard, with
David Nyika taking on Nik Charalampous
.
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