{"id":370009,"date":"2026-01-14T20:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/370009\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T20:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:56:10","slug":"6ft-7in-retired-rugby-star-set-for-heavyweight-boxing-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/370009\/","title":{"rendered":"6ft 7in retired rugby star set for heavyweight boxing debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nelson Asofa-Solomona\u00a0is gearing up to make his professional boxing debut this weekend.<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona represented New Zealand in rugby league for eight years until 2025, playing for the Melbourne Storm as a prop for 215 games.<\/p>\n

\"Nelson<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The Australian rugby league star is out to tackle new challenges in the boxing ring, with his first fight this FridayCredit: Garry Bowden\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

But now, he is swapping the rugby pitch for the boxing ring.<\/p>\n

On January 16, he is set to fight his former rugby rival, Jeremy Latimore, on the undercard of Nikita Tszyu vs Michael Zerafa.<\/p>\n

As Asofa-Solomona prepares for a new venture, he has explained his decision to walk away from his Melbourne Storm deal, reported to be worth over A$850,000 (over \u00a3420,000).<\/p>\n

What has Nelson Asofa-Solomona said ahead of his debut?<\/p>\n

He said to Fox Sports<\/a>: \u201cRugby league stopped loving me.<\/p>\n

READ MORE BOXING NEWS<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd while I do still love the game, I just think it\u2019s slowly losing its fabric. The game is losing its bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I gravitated to boxing \u2013 it\u2019s a gladiatorial sport. Boxing still has its bones and that will never change.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Asofa-Solomona hasn’t completely closed the door on a return to rugby in the future, he is turning his attention to boxing for the foreseeable.<\/p>\n

The former prop seems to be eager to make his mark in a new sport.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cWith boxing it\u2019s so much different than a team sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to back yourself; you\u2019ve got to be confident. So I\u2019m not surprised that he is confident.<\/p>\n

\"MELBOURNE,<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Asofa-Solomona\u00a0is lacing up the gloves in Brisbane on Friday nightCredit: Getty\"BRISBANE,<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

He cited rugby league ‘losing its bones’ as one of the driving forces behind his decision to move into boxingCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what I\u2019m discovering in boxing is that you\u2019ve got to have somewhat of a delusion \u2014 or be somewhat delusional \u2014 and I think it\u2019s on full display there.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done rounds with [Paul Gallen], but he hasn\u2019t done rounds with me. So we\u2019re going to find out.<\/p>\n

\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

“I think the biggest thing is the mental warfare, and I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going through 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

\"Nelson<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old is hoping to use his athleticism and power from his rugby days to dominate in the ringCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

His opponent, Latimore (1-0), will have Paul Gallen\u00a0in his corner on fight night.<\/p>\n

Gallen is another rugby league legend who also made the transition into boxing.<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old reportedly banked an estimated $25million across his 19 appearances in the ring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His experience is expected to shape Latimore into a tough test for Asofa-Solomona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nelson Asofa-Solomona\u00a0is gearing up to make his professional boxing debut this weekend. Asofa-Solomona represented New Zealand in rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,141289,6102,141287,39566,141286,34714,141288,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-370009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-league","tag-boxing-news","tag-jeremy-latimore","tag-michael-zerafa","tag-nelson-asofa-solomona","tag-nikita-tszyu","tag-paul-gallen","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}