{"id":415473,"date":"2026-01-15T21:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T21:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/415473\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T21:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T21:38:08","slug":"ex-kiwis-nrl-star-nelson-asofa-solomona-holds-no-regrets-ahead-of-professional-boxing-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/415473\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Kiwis, NRL star Nelson Asofa-Solomona holds no regrets ahead of professional boxing debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking to the Herald, Asofa-Solomona said he feels relaxed and is eager to let his hands do the talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople know me for my aggressive nature on the field, and that part isn\u2019t new to me, but the sport of boxing is,\u201d Asofa-Solomona said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I dive into it, I\u2019m realising it\u2019s more than just throwing hands, there\u2019s a real science to it. I\u2019m still new to the game and picking up new things all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something new and exciting, and I just want to enjoy the process and hopefully everything comes to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not the Wellingtonian\u2019s first rodeo inside the ring. In 2023, Asofa-Solomona fought Jarrod Wallace, knocking out the former Dolphins prop in a three-round heavyweight fight, although that was considered an amateur bout.<\/p>\n

Even though he\u2019s stepped away from the sport where he amassed 215 appearances with the Melbourne Storm, winning premierships in 2017 and 2020, and making 16 test appearances for New Zealand, Asofa-Solomona is refusing to completely shut the door on rugby league.<\/p>\n

The move does mean, however, that he won\u2019t be in contention for the Kiwis at this year\u2019s Rugby League World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"NelsonNelson Asofa-Solomona in action with the Kiwis. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cMy best and fondest memories were playing for the Kiwis,\u201d Asofa-Solomona said. \u201cI really enjoyed my time with the boys there because we all come from similar backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m on a different path. I feel like I\u2019m in the passenger seat and God\u2019s in the driver\u2019s seat. I\u2019m just going wherever he wants me to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really had much time to reflect on my career yet, but looking back at what we achieved as a team at the Melbourne Storm, I\u2019m very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NelsonNelson Asofa-Solomona says boxing is “more than just throwing hands, there\u2019s a real science to it”. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

For Asofa-Solomona, the focus now is on Latimore, who played 182 NRL games for five clubs, including 24 for the Warriors in 2010-11.<\/p>\n

While Latimore won\u2019t be a pushover, Asofa-Solomona holds a clear size advantage, tipping the scales at 133.1kg to his opponent\u2019s 112kg.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done well just to even put up his hand and get himself into the gym, so you\u2019ve got to give credit where it\u2019s due, it\u2019s not easy to get into the ring,\u201d Asofa-Solomona said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels natural. I feel calm, and I just have to go out there and execute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Francis<\/a> is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speaking to the Herald, Asofa-Solomona said he feels relaxed and is eager to let his hands do the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[22666,157094,64,63,802,114456,11558,35006,41286,219275,27695,1913,13057,5587,155308,159669,2877,761,762,47024,1463,158,1787,134619,33372,119583,760,85,4031,76526,81607],"class_list":["post-415473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-ahead","tag-asofasolomona","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-calm","tag-complete","tag-confident","tag-debut","tag-exkiwis","tag-feels","tag-fight","tag-first","tag-from","tag-holds","tag-insists","tag-league","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nelson","tag-no","tag-nrl","tag-of","tag-prepares","tag-professional","tag-regrets","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-star","tag-tonight","tag-transition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415473","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=415473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}