Jake Paul is eager to make a fight with Sonny Bill Williams happen, despite the massive size difference between the pair.
The New Zealand rugby legend is a heavyweight with a 9-0 professional record, while YouTube star Paul is 5-0 as a professional having campaigned at cruiserweight in his young career. But that didn't stop the American from listing Williams on his six-main hit list ahead of his August ring return.
And he has promised that he will one day make the fight with the two-time world cup winner a reality, insisting that he is very interested in a match-up with Williams. Speaking with Mirror Fighting in New York, Paul said: "There are a lot of people on my list.
"I would love to take out an Australian, as much as I love everyone from Australia, shout out to George Kambosos, yeah that would be a big fight [Williams is from New Zealand]. I think we both have bright careers ahead of us and at some point I do see us getting in the ring together and handling it."
Talks have reportedly begun between Paul's team and Williams, who retired from rugby last year and returned to the ring with a thunderous first round stoppage of Australian Football star Barry Hill in March. The Kiwi has said that he is also plotting a fight for August, which could be against Paul.
“I’m maybe looking at August, getting back in the ring,” Williams told Nine and Stan Sport over the weekend. “ Jake Paul, his people have reached out to mine and they’re talking so who knows. The main thing is I’m very excited and very grateful to be back in the ring, on Stan, boxing.”
However, there is a the small issue of a 50lb weight difference between the pair. Williams is a rugby star, and at his leanest weighed in at 229lb, over two-and-a-half stone more than Paul's career-highest of 191lb.
Would you like to see Jake Paul fight Sonny Bill Williams? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Paul has yet to fight anybody with a boxing record, and his four opponents have all been considerably smaller. Williams is just two-inches taller, but sports a much bigger frame from his days as a star rugby player in the union and league disciplines.
Williams has had a stop-start career in the ring, often having to forgo his gloves for the various rugby teams that he decided to dedicate his time to for the majority of his endeavours. He made his debut in 2009, but has had to take breaks for as long as six years on his way to less than a double-digit amount of fights.
But now that he has retired from both union and league, he has reunited with coach Andy Lee and is plotting a serious run in boxing. A fight with Paul would be massive for Williams, who had beaten former world champion Frans Botha, and could launch him in America, where rugby is a very minor sport.
