GO FROM PLAYING RUGBY TO BOXING

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS takes us on his journey from cross-code rugby superstar to headlining Australian pay-per-view fight nights

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SONNY BILL Williams was known for big hits on the rugby field, so when he hung up his boots, it was no surprise to see him lace up the boxing gloves again.

Williams started boxing long before his days as a cross-code superstar were over. Frankly, he needed the money.

SBW had a $1 million AUD debt to pay off after he walked out mid-season on the NRL's Canterbury Bulldogs to make his first foray into union with Tana Umaga's Toulon back in 2008.

"I love boxing," Williams tells Rugby World. "At the start it was through necessity because I was in $1 million debt and the guys who funded my start were boxers. So that is how it started and it lit a fire that I have not been able to extinguish."

Anthony Mundine, a former rugby league star turned boxer, is one of Williams's close friends. He's also a mentor to him and fellow Muslim convert. A big name in Australian boxing, the former IBA super middleweight world champion lent Williams money to help him buy his way out of his five-year Bulldogs deal.

And so it was on Mundine's undercard that Williams made his debut in the ring, defeating Gary Gurr by TKO in Brisbane in 2009.