already being linked to a potential crossover blockbuster against Paul Gallen<\/a>, 29-year-old NAS must first win this Friday\u2019s anticipated debut against fellow NRL Old Boy, Latimore.<\/p>\nAsked if his decision to switch sports was due to his falling out of love with rugby league, the man who also boasts two NRL premiership wins and 16 Test caps for New Zealand suggested it was actually the opposite.<\/p>\n
\u201cRugby league stopped loving me,\u201d Asofa-Solomona says simply.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd while I do still love the game, I just think it\u2019s slowly losing its fabric.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game is losing its bones.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I gravitated to boxing \u2026 it\u2019s a gladiatorial sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoxing still has its bones and that will never change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nelson Asofa-Solomona says the NRL has lost its bones.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Asked to expand, and the former NRL enforcer continues: \u201cI don\u2019t want to expand too much, bro.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you only have to look at my career and how things panned out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed two grand finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd both times, it was for things that were accidents.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd missing consecutive grand finals? For accidents? You\u2019ve never seen it before.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I just didn\u2019t feel like any of it was about playing anymore. Things were out of my control.\u201d<\/p>\n
After severing ties with Melbourne, Asofa-Solomona reportedly attracted offers from both Parramatta and the Warriors, while also confirming an approach from the controversial R360 rebel league.<\/p>\n
But with R360\u2019s launch now delayed, Asofa-Solomona has also aborted any rugby switch and is unlikely to look at an NRL return in 2027.<\/p>\n
In fact, the man boasting over 200 NRL games has even questioned if athletes his size are now set to become extinct at rugby league\u2019s highest levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I\u2019m too tall for the sport as it is now,\u201d he shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at players now, they\u2019re a bit smaller. Faster and fitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo perhaps I\u2019m just not made for rugby league anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe my body isn\u2019t made for the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘I’m obsessed’: Big NAS set to take over | 01:04<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Latimore has spoken openly about the challenge that is facing Asofa-Solomona, who is not only 10 years younger but potentially set to outweigh him by some 20kg.<\/p>\n
And as for what fight plan he expects the big fella to adopt?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Nelson\u2019s coming to knock me out,\u201d Latimore cackled this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need a university degree to know that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guy is big, strong, really powerful.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a big uppercut, big right, left hook and a strong jab.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Laughs] If he collects me, I\u2019ll be like a tranquilized giraffe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be a case of boom, boom.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve been working hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy plan is to avoid everything he\u2019ll be bringing, while also looking to pick him apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Certainly, Asofa-Solomona has the size and power to become one of the most intimidating heavyweights in Australian boxing.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, the monster prop had a convincing exhibition stoppage win over then NRL rival Jarrod Wallace.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the new boxing convert also showed a decent pair of hands during his now infamous 2019 Bali street brawl, where he was defending a Storm teammate after being attacked.<\/p>\n
Already, NAS has said he would be keen to throw down against Gallen if he wants it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019d love to dance with him,\u201d Asofa-Solomona said recently. \u201cObviously, right now, Gal is retired and doing his media thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m definitely not calling him out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not that guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if he did want to come back? I know there would be a lot of hype around any fight between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we could both make some decent money from it. But Gal has already done plenty in the fight game and had a great run. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo if it\u2019s a rest that he wants, he definitely deserves it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top 5 brutal Nikita Tszyu knockouts! | 15:51<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, both Nelson and No Limit promoter George Rose have also expressed surprise at how confident Latimore has appeared during fight week interviews.<\/p>\n
Asked about said confidence of his rival, who boasts two fights for as many wins, and Nelson talked of the \u201cdelusion\u201d required to even step inside a ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith boxing it\u2019s so much different than a team sport,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to back yourself; you\u2019ve got to be confident.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m not surprised that he is confident.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I\u2019m discovering in boxing is that you\u2019ve got to have somewhat of a delusion — or be somewhat delusional — and I think it\u2019s on full display there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done rounds with Gal, but he hasn\u2019t done rounds with me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019re going to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon after, he added: \u201cI\u2019m a big, gentle giant but as we get closer to fight night, I can feel the wheels turning a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bit of that warfare mindset is starting to get in my head and I think you\u2019ll see a different Nelson when I get to the ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest thing is the mental warfare and I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going though a bit of it right now, knowing the power that I possess.<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit to him, but I\u2019m here to do a job. I\u2019m looking for that highlight reel finish …\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nelson Asofa-Solomona has accused the NRL of \u201closing its bones\u201d after missing consecutive grand finals due to suspension,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-409135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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