The New Zealand Heavyweight title fight is coming up next week between league turned rugby player Sonny Bill Williams, and New Zealand based American boxer Clarence Tillman.
I thought I would hypothetically look at where he would fit if fighting in Australia.
This is a distinct possibility next year should the man they call SBW get through Tillman.
The current top ten in Australia are ranked like this:
(Legend Ranking, Boxer, Points, record, last six fights, year turned pro, stance, gym)
1 Alex Leapai
217 25(20)-3(1)-3
2004 2012 orthodox Logan City, Queensland
2 Kali Meehan
107 38(31)-4(2)-0
1997 2012 orthodox Wyongah, New South Wales
3 Lucas Browne
46 10(9)-0-0
2009 2012 orthodox Perth, Western Australia
4 Mark de Mori
44 17(15)-1(1)-2
2004 2012 orthodox Perth, Western Australia
5 Solomon Haumono
39 18(16)-1-1
2000 2012 orthodox Sydney, New South Wales
6 Colin Wilson
33 35(21)-28(15)-1
1992 2012 southpaw Emerald, Queensland
7 Ben Edwards
16 3(3)-0-1
2007 2012 orthodox Queanbeyan, New South Wales
8 Shane Tilyard
16 5(5)-6(5)-0
2009 2012 Brisbane, Queensland
9 Ben Wrotniak
11 4(1)-0-0
2009 2012 orthodox Penrith, New South Wales
10 George Poulivaati
10 6(3)-1-0
2010 2012 orthodox Sydney, New South Wales
Coincidently, Colin Wilson (himself a NZer) fights Lucas Browne Feb 17th for the Australian title.
The top six would beat Williams without too much fanfare. The top two, particularly Meehan, would likely do him some real damage.
No 7 Ben Edwards has only had four fights including a last start draw against previous Australian Champion Michael Kirby, and a KO1 against John Hopate. Edwards is more known in kickboxing circles, however he gets a tick as being likely victorious over Williams.
No 8 Shane Tilyard doesn’t have the greatest record, and at only 180cm gives away height and reach. He does however possess a punch, and has three 1st round KO’s, and two second rounders to his credit. He beats Williams.
No 9 Ben Wrotniak has a similar record to Williams, and in fact has fought one of his opponents, that being the ‘well credentialed’ former Tongan Gospel singerAlipate Liava’a. Like Williams, Wrotniak also beat Liava’a on points, but over four rounds.
No 10 George Poulivaati hasn’t fought any names of note yet, but with six victories from seven fights, three of those by knockout, he is beating what is put in front of him.
The dream fight for a promoter would be Williams if he wins the New Zealand title, and Haumono should he win the Australian title. It would be a no contest in my opinion with Haumono winning inside thre rounds.
With heavyweights you can always look at them having a ‘punchers chance’ however Williams is an ‘arm puncher’ rather than a shoulder puncher who starts from the feet, rotates through the hips and upper body into the arm.
His record of two TKO’s against two ‘boxers’ that were pub fighters at best supports this.
At best Williams could work his way into No 9 in Australia based on present form, at worst he could be in the next 11-15 rated heavyweights with either up and comers with similar records to his, or journeymen such as No 13 ranked Michael O’Donnell 21-6-15.
Pete Wilson
Guest
If he was juggling his rugby career with car sales work, would he be entitled to the media coverage that he gets through boxing? Does he warrant ppv fights when real fighters in this country (and NZ) struggle for that recognition. I can see your an obvious fan, perhaps to the point of adulation (see Tuesday's article) with your first name referal Matt. I guess you will be booking the fight, and will sit there excited to watch any ordinary card at best, and then come out and slag the fight game off the next day for wasting your hard earned?
Matt
Guest
If a player started playing in a club team in the 4th division and scored a try and got the same media attention SBW does would you belittle them and say they need to man up and play in the Premiership or Super Rugby comps? Hell no. They'd learn their trade at a lower level just like Sonny Bill is doing. You answer your own opinions by saying he isn't much of a boxer and yet he needs to fight real pros to prove it. What if Sonny Bill decided to juggle his Super Rugby with being a Car Salesman? He sells a couple of cars after a little training and everyone bags him saying he needs to sell 100 cars a week and also sell more than the top salesman at Ford, BMW and Mercedes before they take him seriously. You guys that knock this kid SBW for living his life need to take a long look at their own lives.
chris
Guest
Hall says he doesn't want to fight the footy circus.
mattamkII
Guest
It had better happen soon..Hall is 35 and getting older by the second.
mattamkII
Guest
best, funniest and most factual thing you have ever said here.
The Grafter
Guest
Upsetting those in the boxing fraternity Angelo....
joe blackswan
Guest
SBW will have massive commercial success win or lose.....is he the kim kardashian of the boxing world? SBW v Big Bad Barry Hall.....I would watch that, and I suspect all of NZ and AUS would, it has it all : footy code V footy code , country V country, big names.... cha-ching!
Pete Wilson
Guest
Well said Sir :)
jack
Guest
every1 here needs 2 just chill out. lets wait and c how he does against his next opponent then we can judge if he has any skills or is learning v sport.
dundee
Guest
Reply to Grafter, 'upsetting people"?? How many people are upset? If you look at the whole picture, SBW was the most Googled person in NZ and is a Dual International and was offered the highest contract in Rugby history and has the X-factor and so on and so on.....
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
"Sonny Bill Williams, boxer." A classic oxymoron, right up there with "military intelligence" and "political integrity". Sweet as, bro.
The Grafter
Guest
I think you would find Tuapou all of the named boxers also are juggling full time jobs around their sport of choice. Are you therefore saying that any athlete can be turned into a professional boxer? I think what is upsetting people is the unique red carpet the media in both countries have given him and the others under the Nasser umbrella whereby your typical boxer gets minimal.
Tuapou
Guest
Wat u say maybe true, but you are forgetting one very important point that differentiates SBW from all these other boxers- he is also a professional and international rugby player. To assume that SBW is a deficient boxer compared to these others is just naive. It is obviously going to take him longer to develop the skills of these currently better boxers simply because of the juggling act he has to manage. I think people need to give the guy a break and put his unique situation into perspective.