Sonny Bill Williams eyes up next opponent

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Thu, 09 Feb 2012 6:47p.m.

Sonny Bill Williams moments after beating Clarence Tillman III (Photosport)

Sonny Bill Williams moments after beating Clarence Tillman III (Photosport)

By Shaun Summerfield

Like Sonny Bill Williams, referee Lance Revill barely worked up a sweat in the ring as he stopped last night’s fight in the first round.

But the former heavyweight champ and president of Professional Boxing New Zealand saw enough to predict big things for the code hoping slugger.

“He’s fantastic for boxing - look at the state of him. If Patti was to fight Tutaki last night who would care?” says Revill.

After last night’s fight, both those fighters are now in line to challenge for the professional heavyweight belt, with Richard Tutaki calling Williams out straight after the first round TKO in Hamilton.

Tutaki was meant to get his chance last night, but an arrest on drugs charges saw Clarence Tillman take the big pay day instead.

Williams first title defence has to be against a top 10 ranked Kiwi, his second against the number one challenger – and at the moment that is Joey Wilson.

According to Revill though, the man who last held the belt, Shane Cameron, is not an option.

“Shane Cameron can’t call him out. Shane Cameron has said he doesn’t want to fight heavyweights, so let him fight Danny Green, and not cash in on Sonny Bill’s popularity,” says Revill.

Cashing in on that popularity however, is exactly what boxing is hoping to do.

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Comments

10 Feb 2012 07:37p.m.

Goodfella wrote:

Man u guys are idiots, u's talk like he's been fighting for years saying he needs to fight real boxers, tillman jst underestimated his power and speed, and didnt take sbw seriously, remember sonny's had no amateur career man,he's done well goin pro and picking up wins like that,those guys he fought hav more boxing experience than sonny, he's lucky he's picking it up faster coz he's a natural athlete,yeah his technique may look dodgy,but even the best boxers have sloppy styles, look at Vitali Klitschko he's a world champ, he's ugly to watch but he still win's.So what if Sbw's opponents are hand picked, Look at Tyson,Delehoya,Roy Jones even Tua and Cameron all had hand picked opponents to boost their records, but they dnt play footy too, so giv the dude a break man, there might not be another Athlete doing all these things at once again,Most people Hating on him are people who know now that it's too late to start admiring his achievements coz they've already looked like jealous, envious fools for knocking him. Good on you Sonny u the Man Brother!!

10 Feb 2012 06:31p.m.

can_i_have_a_refund wrote:

like to see him get some lefts for tua lol and straight up i swear tillman was trying to catch butterflies with his wide az punches

10 Feb 2012 06:15p.m.

Thor wrote:

Richard is right. The Ref could have given Tillman a standing count. But Lance Reville is known for calling the fight early. Reville could have taken a point off of Tillman for hanging on to the ropes and given a warning. If Tillman continued to hang on the ropes then Reville should have called the fight. As far as Sonny-Bill goes, the man has improved. Remember, he's only new to the boxing game. Each outing and more training he will improve. He showed enough to tell us he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. As for Bob Jones bagging Sonny-Bill. Well, Bob Jones just has ants in his pants because Sonny-Bill is getting all the kudos. Bob is of the old school. He likely thinks that Sonny-Bill has gotten all the media etc without putting in the hard yards first. But that's Boxing. Even Sonny-Bill admits he needs to learn more. And as for keeping his hands low? There have been some very great fighters who have kept their hands low, look at the greatest, Ali. Now, Sonny-Bill may be no Ali, but he does have the talent to become very, very good. I mean even his unorthodox passing in rugby he gets away with.

10 Feb 2012 12:19p.m.

Richard wrote:

The referee makes me mad, he shouldve gave Tillman a standing count, not end the fight. The Ref wanted SBW to win as he thinks his popularity is good for the sport. He dosnt care about SBW's ability just his popularity, which is a shame really. Get a decent fighter to fight SBW Who is in shape, and SBW and this false hype surrounding him will be destroyed

10 Feb 2012 11:53a.m.

james wrote:

thinks hes the man....

09 Feb 2012 10:09p.m.

AJ wrote:

Sonny has a lot to learn about boxing. There is very little to celebrate after last night's *victory*. The fight was a farce and not worthy of an NZ title belt. This is a joke. Pity the fools who paid $40 to watch it.....

09 Feb 2012 09:52p.m.

Mitch Auckland wrote:

Will see when he fight Barry Hall(Ex AFL player) who has boxing skills, then we can see how good Sonny is

09 Feb 2012 07:35p.m.

Leatherface wrote:

The paper champ needs to stop fighting hand-picked opponents... step into the ring with a real fighter next time paper champ!