It says much about Australian boxing that as the sport prepared to step back in time, with a rare free-to-air television broadcast of what is being billed as a major spectacle, the buzz around All Phones Arena on Friday was about a possible fight between two footballers.
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Sonny Bill Williams will square off with American heavyweight Chauncy Welliver as the headline act of next month's inaugural Footy Show Fight Night in Sydney but it is his hints at a future showdown against Paul Gallen that will have the masses salivating.
Gallen is also on the January 31 card against an opponent yet to be confirmed, as is Wallaby Quade Cooper and teenage Sydney Roosters forward Willis Meehan.
Friday's announcement was compered by former Cronulla winger and Channel Nine funnyman Beau Ryan.
Boxing's purists will argue there are a legion of top and up-and-coming fighters not getting the attention they deserve, and they would probably be right.
Yet that should not dilute the appeal of next month's SBW-fronted showpiece, which Nine expects to be compelling enough to broadcast it on its high-definition channel GEM. Williams' opponent is no off-season brawler either; he's a vastly more experienced campaigner who has won 55 of his 70 professional bouts.
The Roosters premiership winner, now back in rugby with the Chiefs and the All Blacks, is like Cooper using the fight as a lead-in to a season in which he hopes to win a World Cup.
He is 6-0, his last outing being the controversial win over veteran Frans Botha in August last year.
"it's not just about the fight night," Williams said. "It's about getting ourselves prepared to have the best seasons we can have next year."
That said, he is taking the affair very seriously, as he would a contest against NSW and Cronulla captain Gallen, who a fortnight ago scored a win over former NRL player Anthony Watts inside two minutes when Watts suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Williams and Gallen, who have fought twice, could face off in the second edition of the Nine-backed fight card if the first instalment is a success.
"It's being talked about and I know from all accounts he is pretty keen," Williams said. "Who knows? In the future there definitely could be something if all goes well in our next fights. There could be definitely something in the future, getting in the ring together, because there would be a lot of interest in that fight. Especially if this is an annual thing that they're starting this year.
"It's pretty funny talking about another rugby player, rugby league player, in a fighting sense but that's the day and age that we live in. Everyone is trying something different and that's a good thing.
"A lot of things could happen before that happens but it's something that would be a good fit for both of us."
Williams said he had sought permission from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen before agreeing to the fight in Sydney.
"He said he was OK, as long as you don't get knocked out."
