Sonny Bill Williams hasn’t ruled out the possibility of walking away from his fight with Paul Gallen if adequate drug testing isn’t involved.
The dual-code international brought out the big guns in the trash talk stakes when the fight was finally announced on Tuesday, bringing up Gallen’s involvement in the Cronulla supplements saga, and suggesting the former Sharks and Blues skipper had been using performance-enhancing drugs in preparation for the bout.
Gallen wasn’t there to defend himself, having chosen to ditch the press conference in favour of posting a video to social media.
“Everything is about Sonny, Sonny gets what Sonny wants so I didn't want to steal his thunder today,” he said in a video posted to Instagram.
Williams, however, disputed that assertion, revealing anti-doping tests weren’t currently in the contract, despite his wishes.
“[Gallen] was caught up in one of the biggest drug scandals in NRL history,” SBW told Sporting News.
“I was called a couple of times about getting on some performance-enhancing boosters. ‘This bloke’s on it, you should get on it as well.’
“Even now, I’m still being asked a lot about it, that’s the cold-hard truth.
“The truth is, I’ve signed a contract and there’s no drug testing in it, that’s one of the things that I asked for. Where is it?
“Those are the truths, I’m not coming up with something out of thin air.”
So why agree to the fight?
“Because I still feel like I can get it done,” he added.
“I still feel like if I train the house down, and these boxes are ticked, I’ll be able to give him a good hiding.
“If the people putting on this fight, Paul, if they have any decency, there’ll be drug testing in this one.”
And what if there’s not? Would the Kiwi walk away?
“I’m not sure, we’ll see,” he said.
“We’ll see.”
If the fight does go ahead as planned at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday, July 16, Williams will have Tapu Opetaia in his corner, the father and trainer of cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia.
Williams will be basing his camp on the Gold Coast and training alongside the IBF and The Ring titleholder.
Asked what sets Opetaia apart, Williams, who has also trained alongside the likes of Tyson Fury, picked out one notable attribute.
“Mindset, the thing that makes Jai special, along with his technical skills, is his mindset,” Williams said.
“He’s crazy. The way that he trains, it’s crazy.”