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Sonny Bill Williams catches Ryan Hogan with a hard right - Source: Getty -
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We expected so much. Sonny Bill Williams' second foray into professional boxing was supposed to give us an idea of whether the 24-year-old could earn a living cuffing blokes around the ears.
Of course, having just signed for New Zealand Rugby, we were curious about how SBW would fare against the 130kg Ryan "The Hulk" Hogan, given that any injury would be an unwelcome set-back for Williams on his journey to become an All Black.
Now, it would be naive to think that Sonny Bill's manager and boxing promoter, Khoder Nasser, would seek out an opponent capable of decapitating his star client's head.
But surely we deserved more than the sham that ended in a whimper, with Hogan collapsing on the floor after what appeared to be a tap on the forehead from a Williams right hand.
A year earlier, Williams had teased us with some excellent combinations that knocked the daylights out of Gary "The Baboon" Gurr. It was an impressive showing from Williams in his first pro fight and it left us thinking... what if?
Now, a year on, we expected to see just how far SBW had come in the ring. SBW told me before the fight he actually felt like a boxer this time round and not just a footie player wearing gloves.
Unfortunately it was too much to ask. The farce started early in the week when Hogan failed to show for a press conference. Then came the woefully stage-managed event where Hogan shoved Anthony Mundine off the weigh-in scales. To cap it off, Hogan's father physically blocked me from asking his son why he wanted to take on Sonny Bill.
Quite bizarre indeed.
It was a vastly different approach to the foul-mouthed Gary Gurr the previous year, who did his best to spook Williams with comical pre-bout threats.
I actually thought the silent Hogan might let his gloves do the talking. But on fight night, the talk was coming from the spectators when Hogan revealed he was carrying most of his 130kg on his stomach.
By contrast, the chiseled Williams was in peak condition, wowing the crowd, delighting the ladies and filling their men with envy.
Less than three minutes later it was all over. A shaken Hogan threw in the towel after a tap to the head. Williams had hardly broken a sweat and told me afterwards, he didn't even hit his fellow Kiwi.
It was a major disappointment for the few thousand people in the crowd and the pay TV viewers watching at home and pubs around the country.
So, Sonny Bill's two pro fights have yielded less than five minutes of ring time and we are no closer to knowing if Williams is a contender.
There will be no such free rides in New Zealand rugby.
Read more of Steve Marshall's articles.
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