Joseph Parker Vs Sonny Bill Williams – Who was the best boxing New Zealander

Posted on | March 15, 2018 | No Comments

Sonny Bill Williams had a fairly short lived boxing career, only fighting 7 times between 2009 and 2015. Back in 2015, whenSonny put his boxing career on hold to head back to rugby, he was stripped of his international and New Zealand heavyweight titles.Williams left his boxing career on a high with though, winning all 7 of his fights.

Following a recent interview with ESPN, Joseph Parker had the following he sayabout Sonny bill Williams boxing career, on seeing the return of Williams to the ring:

“He’s focused on his rugby at the moment and his family, but overall he’s a great athlete. I think he’d love to get back into the ring but he’s focusing on a few things for now.”

However, when comparing Williams and Parker’s boxing careers, who turned out to be the best boxing New Zealander? Whilst Parker’s career has had a steady and successful growth accounting for all his 24 wins, his upcoming fight with Anthony Joshua could be his first loss, defying the AJ vs Parker betting odds on Paddy Power,against Anthony Joshua, who has seen 20 wins during his career.

Joseph Parker has revealed that he plans on fighting Anthony Joshua twice in 2018, on March 31stwe’ll see Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua battle it out and Parker is convinced that he will be the victorious athlete yetboth Parker and Joshua are undefeated. In the lead up to AJ vs Parker, Parker has received criticism by British TV host, Graham Norton, where he called Parker the “King of Pies”, Parker is determined now more than ever to prove he is in great shape as he heads to camp. Parker has proven his fitness by going the full 12 rounds in 4 out of his last 6 matches.

Whilst it may seem like Sonny Bill Williams career is primarily focused around rugby, his boxing career (whilst he has had far less fights compared to Joseph Parker),resulted in 7 wins. Both Williams and Parker fought against the South African boxer, Frans Botha (AKA the White Buffalo) and won. Frans Botha who’s had a total of 63 fights, resulting in 48 wins and 11 losses, which made him a perfect gauge for both fighters, fortunately for the two New Zealander boxers, they were able to defeat Frans Botha.

Williams fight with the White Buffalo

Williams was clearly in trouble and taking a beating but somehow managed to win the fight on points. What some argued was a surprise decision and hurt Botha’s chances of winning was that at the beginning of the match they were told there would be 12 rounds, then throughout the match a decision was made to make it 10 instead mid fight.

Parkers fight with the White Buffalo
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The last time Botha fought in Australia it was believed he was robbed by Williams but unfortunately this time, when he went up against Parker, it ended in disaster for Botha. Parker knocked out the 44-year old heavyweight in just 2 rounds.

Whilst there is controversy around Williams and his last boxing match, only time will tell who the best New Zealander boxer is. With AJ vs Parker just around the corner and some hope that Williams will return to boxing someday(as backed by Joseph Parker). The best New Zealander boxer is still up for grabs.

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