MMA nice Mark Hunt has surprised Sonny Bill Williams with a fourth-round knockout of the cross-code famous person of their boxing conflict in Sydney.
Hunt was a significant underdog given he’s 48 years previous and misplaced to Paul Gallen again in 2020.
Williams in distinction got here in unbeaten, having been 9-0 in his skilled boxing profession, final beating Barry Hall again in March. He can be 11 years youthful.
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But that meant little given Hunt’s unbelievable energy which was all the previous UFC star, who has battled greats like Brock Lesnar, Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir, wanted.
After three rounds he had landed simply 18 of his 73 thrown punches, whereas Williams had landed 38 of 105.
But the momentum swung Hunt’s manner within the fourth spherical after a couple of physique pictures with Williams’ nook screaming “Move, Sonny, move! Dance, Sonny!”
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On commentary Stan’s Andy Raymond yelled: “Sonny Bill is down.
“He’s hurt. Against the odds, Sonny Bill Williams has been dropped.
“His eyes are not clear… Mark Hunt, in his final fight, stops the legend that is Sonny Bill Williams. What a fight.”
He fell to the ground and the struggle stopped briefly earlier than extra huge punches from Hunt noticed the referee name it off.
Hunt declared: “Heavyweights pack a lot of power, a shot like that could have ended anyone.”
Williams conceded he might comply with Hunt into retirement.
“At this stage I’m not even sure if I’ll fight again. That could be it for me, too,” Williams mentioned.
“We’ll see what unfolds over the next few weeks.”
Asked if he was genuinely contemplating retirement, Williams replied: “Yeah, for sure. I’m 37, I’ve always said that if I cop a lot of punishment, that could be it.
“I wasn’t trying to be the heavyweight champion of the world, I was just out there doing my best. Mark read my punches, they were obviously a bit too telegraphed, he caught me and that was it… we’ll see what the future holds.
“If this is the end of my sporting career, it’s been a good one.”
Hunt had dropped round 30 kilograms in preparation for his farewell struggle and it paid off, with the MMA nice reminding the sporting world of his lethal energy.
“Wow, that was unbelievable,” Australian boxing nice Danny Green mentioned.