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Sonny Bill Williams poses with his coach Tony Mundine, and Anthony Mundine - Source: Photosport -
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Sonny Bill Williams may now be able to call himself the New Zealand heavyweight champion, but the title should mean very little to him according to a leading Australian newspaper.
Writing for Sydney's Daily Telegraph, Paul Kent didn't mince his words when he wrote "it was another farce" after Williams had already fought four dubious bouts in his short boxing career.
"His opponent Clarence Tillman had breasts, which is offensive in any ring that isn't Foxy Boxing," Kent said.
He then went on to ask how the bout ever get sanctioned as a title fight?
"Because more than a sport boxing is a money game, and if you can generate the cash the organisations can soon generate a title for you to fight for. Sonny Bill has hitched his wagon to the Mundine circus following the same tired formula that strips $44.95 a time from honest fight fans expecting an honest fight, and fails often..... They are cheapening the sport, and those who built it."
The Daily Mail website in the UK was tongue in cheek when they ran a headline saying "Klitschkos beware! World Cup winner Williams knocks out Tillman in first round to become NZ champ," in reference to the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, who between them hold all the major world heavyweight titles.
But veteran boxing commentator and historian Sir Bob Jones was in no mood to joke when asked for his views on the fight.
Sir Bob made no apologies for not watching the three-minute demolition - "why would I want to watch that rubbish?" - and said the media attention it had attracted was disgraceful.
The 34-year-old Tillman was a "joke opponent", as his record (11 wins from 22 professional fights) suggested.
"Tillman's record is appalling. Five of his fights were against blokes who had never fought before and even then he lost one of them," Jones said this morning.
"Have a look at all the bouts he's had in New Zealand and Australia, his name has never once appeared in the press. He's small town. He's a joke opponent and they've built him up, and suddenly he's fighting in the limelight.
"He's hopeless. To see all this over the front page is silly. Why haven't we heard of Tillman's name before?
"The whole thing was a joke from the start. This sort of farce degrades boxing."
The win left Williams undefeated from five fights and saw him, rather dubiously, claim the New Zealand heavyweight belt.
"If he (Williams) wants to box that's his business, and same goes for Tillman, but how can you have a New Zealand (title) fight between a New Zealander and a foreigner? It's silliness and degrading," Jones said.
"I'm sorry to see Lance Revell refereeing it and taking part in it. He should know better.
"Maybe I'm being a curmudgeon at my age, but there are heaps of books about the dumbing down (of boxing) and it's getting worse and worse, the ignorance and gullibility, the hype, why would they (the public) want to watch a football player who can't box, although he's getting better of course.
"I don't wish to sound snobbish but the things that are good about boxing are not to be found in that sort of rubbish. They're to be found at the top level with certain types of boxers."
Williams now turns his attention to Super Rugby with the Chiefs, returning to training on Monday and likely to feature in their final warm-up match.
-With Fairfax
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