Boxing: League hardman leaving it all in ring

Greg Bird has responded to Rene Ranger's early jab ahead of their showdown at this weekend's Fight For Life in Auckland, saying he will do his talking in the ring.

Bird was responding to comments in the Northern Advocate about how Ranger would rather "flick over to Shortland Street" before watching the league hardman.

The current Australian league representative said, like Ranger, he did not know much about his opponent apart from what he had seen on a few YouTube clips.

"What's Shortland Street?" asked Bird. "I don't really know what to say. I'm not very good at trash talking, I normally do my talking on the field, or in this case, the ring, I guess.

"He looked pretty good [on YouTube]. A couple of the young guys in our team are fans of his so they have been letting me know who he is. I don't really watch rugby."

Ranger will be looking to exploit Bird's preference to be surrounded by his teammates.

"It [boxing] doesn't really float my boat. I like to be around my mates," Bird said. "It's definitely going to a bit nerve-wrecking, being out of my comfort zone, but at the same time I'm looking forward to testing myself."

One thing is for sure, Ranger will put Bird's hardman reputation to the test during Saturday night's charity bout.