Sonny Bill Williams has hit the headlines again following an altercation with his next boxing opponent, Clarence Tillman III. The scuffle broke out at their weigh-in ahead of Wednesday night's clash for the vacant New Zealand Heavyweight title.
Williams and Tillman faced off in Hamilton ahead of the fight that came about after Williams' planned opponent, Richard Tutaki, was scratched from the fight following an arrest on various charges.
The All Black center is looking to gain some respect following a string of questionable fights. This will be his fifth as a professional boxer, with his last fight being against 43 year old Alipate Liava'a.
Williams and Tillman came to blows after some verbal sparring sparked a shove, then quick right from the big American. Williams' brother John tackled him off to the side, squashing trainer Anthony Mundine in the process, as Liam Messam watched on.
"It’s pretty below the belt, but that’s all good," said Williams.
"He’s the one talking it up at the press conference. We should leave it all in the ring tomorrow, but obviously there is other things on his mind and he wants to bring the fight right now. If he’d wanted to, we could have got it on right now. Just adds a bit more spice to it, doesn’t it?
"I didn’t feel nothing man," Williams insisted, despite footage showing that the Tillman shot landed.
Was this a real altercation, or just another publicity stunt to hype up a fight?
Update: Watch what happened here