Sonny Bill Williams believes his standing up to Paul Gallen is the source of much of the animosity between the pair heading into their long-awaited boxing showdown next week.
SBW and Gallen will finally meet in the ring at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena next Wednesday, July 16, with the two former footy stars set to end more than a decade-long beef.
At the press conference to announce the bout - which Gallen no-showed - Williams accused his opponent of being a drug cheat, while also questioning his character, claiming he charges guests $10 a head to attend barbeques at his house.
WATCH: SBW vs. Gallen, July 16, live on Stan.
Gallen has since bit back in various media appearances since, pointing to Williams’ controversial 2008 departure from the Bulldogs as an example of his rival’s character.
“I was going through a lot of stuff at that time,” Williams said when asked about the comments by Sporting News.
“I think what’s really riled him up is the fact that someone’s actually speaking up against him.
“He’d be the guy in the dressing room that would suck up all the oxygen, ‘What I say goes.’ He’s that type of character, I believe.
“So when someone says, ‘Shut up, you’re not the best bloke, you’re not the best footy player.’ He doesn’t like it.
“The way he probably looks at me is the way that he looks at a lot of players in the dressing room, especially from where I’m from. ‘These guys are nothing,’ ‘Go, Sonny, handle the press conference yourself.’
“Him bringing up the Bulldogs saga - good on you, bro. You were a drug cheat, plain and simple.”
Of course, fighters regularly make headline-grabbing remarks in the run up to big bouts, but, at least as far as Gallen is concerned, there won’t be letting bygones be bygones after this one.
“Not a chance. There’s not a thing that he can do that can change my mind on him. I hate him,” the premiership-winning skipper said on the Off The Record podcast.
“There’s nothing about this person that I like and there’s nothing he can do to change that. And I’m sure he’s the same way about me.”
WATCH: SBW vs. Gallen, July 16, live on Stan.
Gallen even shared his fear for how he might react if he drops Williams.
“Do you know what my biggest concern there is? I’d want to try and dropkick his head off his shoulders,” he added.
“I wanna kick his head off his shoulders. That’s in my mindset going into this fight, that’s how much I want to hurt him. That’s the hatred I have for him at that time and at that moment.”
Despite Williams’ public request for anti-doping testing to be undertaken by the pair ahead of the fight, the 39-year-old Kiwi said the matter hasn’t been addressed.
“How crazy is it? No drug testing,” he said.
“What a joke.”
So while they won’t have to p*ss in a cup for this one, the former dual-code superstar is still confident of getting the job done.
“I reckon I might be able to stop him, but at the same time, I reckon I might be able to make him look silly for the whole eight rounds,” Williams said.
“It’s just about being patient but being able to throw down at the same time too.”