Rugby legend Sonny Bill Williams is ready to hand Jake Paul the first loss of his young boxing career.
Williams, a two-time world cup winner in the rugby union discipline as well as an elite rugby league player, is 9-0 as a professional boxer after taking up the sport to stay fit during the off-seasons of his main career. But he appears to be back in boxing after knocking out AFL star Barry Hill last month to restart his fighting life.
And he has vowed to offer Paul the sole loss on his 5-0 professional record after the YouTuber named him on his six-man hitlist of fighters he could face next. Williams was listed alongside Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Anderson Silva, Michael Bisping, Tommy Fury as potential opponents, with August his targeted timeline.
And Williams took to Twitter to respond to Paul's list, sharing a clip from his appearance on The Fight with Teddy Atlas and captioning it: "Looks like I’m on the hit list.
"I’m not going to hate on this guy at all as I respect what he’s done. I also really respect his skillset as a boxer. But if he wants some he can get it Jake Paul. Yours respectfully - your first loss."
Williams coach, former world champion boxer Andy Lee, was the first to float the idea. Last month, after Williams bruising return to the ring in Australia, he said "Future fight Sonny Bill Williams vs Jake Paul " in a tweet, which evidently caught the attention of Paul's team.
However, there are a number of barriers to the fight being made, most notably the disparity in weight classes between the pair. Williams has never weighed any less than 229lb during his career, where as Paul fights at around 190lb. Major lifestyle changes would be needed by both even if a bridgerweight workaround were to be arranged for Paul to fight heavier while Williams would make a heavy cut.
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There is also the matter of the fight being a major step-up for Paul in terms of competition. Williams retired from rugby union and rugby league last year, but is just 36-years-old and was considered one of the greatest athletes in the world in his prime. Williams is a far more experienced boxer, beginning his career in 2009 and going as far as winning the WBA international title from former world champion Frans Botha.
As for Paul, he has yet to face a boxer with any previous fights, and would likely want a slightly less daunting prospect. He told Mirror Fighting that no opponent has been picked as yet, but he is in talks for an August return.
"We don't have a date in August," he explained. "We're talking to a lot of different people, a lot of big names. We need someone with that star power, a big name who can bring in a ton of pay-per-view buys to the table, all of my opponents I've carried the promotion and I'm looking for that big name. We need someone who can be a heavy hitter in the space."
