15 hours ago
10
Footy great turned boxer Sonny Bill Williams has hit back at MMA legend Mark Hunt, who accused the cross-code star of ripping him off over their 2022 boxing bout in Sydney.
'SBW' suffered the first professional defeat of his boxing career when the pair squared off three years ago, with Hunt scoring a technical knockout win in the fourth round.
Hunt said at the time that he accepted the fight largely for financial reasons, but has since complained about what he was paid afterwards.
'I was promised a certain amount of money,' Hunt told the Big Kash podcast.
'But I made a deal, not a contract. I shook the hand of a man I thought because he's a man of faith, that he's trustworthy.
'It is what it is. He didn't honour his word and he ripped me off, so at the end of the day it is what it is.
MMA legend Mark Hunt has accused Sonny Bill Williams of dishonouring his religion by ripping him off over their 2022 boxing bout
Hunt says he should have signed a contract rather than making a handshake deal with Williams before stopping the footy great out in the fourth round (pictured)
'... we had a handshake deal, and I trusted his word and what he said to me, and he's a man of faith and he's supposed to be a man of faith, but he didn't honour me, bro, and he didn't honour his religion.'
On Wednesday, Williams - who is a devout Muslim - replied to Hunt's accusation that he had been ripped off in the deal.
'Now I want to clarify something,' Williams said on his Instagram story.
'Factual points. We had an agreement that everything that we done got split 50-50. We set up a bank account, had signatures on it that anything that came out of that account, or went into that account, him and his guy would see and my guy would see.
'Anything that went out, my guy would have to sign it and Mark and his guy would have to sign it.
'Other factual points are that pay-per-views done really bad. Only over 8000 people, I think, bought the fight. So you do the math, that times fifty bucks or whatever that was.
'The fight just didn't generate any money and that's the actual factual points.
'The other thing I want to talk about is him questioning my integrity or my guy's integrity.
Williams says that the deal was done fairly and that he and his team don't owe anybody money
'We owe no one nothing. You know, I've always stood on that. And I'll always stand on that until I die.
'I pay my dues. Khoder (Nasser, Williams' manager) pays our dues. From anything to do with camp, sparring, training. Whatever it is, we always pay up front. Because that's what we're taught, you know.
'I don't fear no man. Khoder doesn't fear no man. We fear Allah and on the day of judgement these things will all come to light.'
Williams finished up his response by telling Hunt that he should give him a phone call if he wants to discuss the matter further.
