Boxing: I'll beat the hell out of SBW - Tillman

Clarence Tillman says he plans to take his boxing to the next level this year, starting with his bout against Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Sonny Bill Williams' next opponent calls himself a boxer, an actor and a model and, in the best traditions of the heavyweight game, has had a tough upbringing.

He was born in New Orleans and fled the city days before Hurricane Katrina struck with such devastation in 2005. The trip to Houston, normally a five or six-hour drive, took 19 hours, the freeway jammed with so many others who had the same idea.

When aged 6 he watched someone get shot and killed in the city of his birth and says he saw a handful of others die in the same way in the place which regularly tops the "murder capital of the nation" league.

He was an offensive lineman in the professional Arena Football League. He has worked as a security guard and was a mentor for troubled teenagers. In 2008 he made his debut as a professional boxer in front of 12,000 spectators in Las Vegas. He lost.

Welcome to the world of Clarence Tillman III, a man who admits he is different and proud of it. He also happens to be living in Auckland and contesting the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association heavyweight title against Williams, one of the highest-profile rugby players in the world, at the Claudelands Arena in Hamilton on February 8.

"As you can tell, I'm kind of different," he says. "I just go with the wind. I don't worry about sh*t."

In March 2010, the wind blew Tillman to Auckland where he successfully fought Junior Pati.

He liked the place so much he stayed. Tillman had five other fights in New Zealand or Australia that year and eight last year. His professional record reads 21 bouts, 11 wins (six knockouts), eight losses, two draws.

The 34-year-old has also had short stints living in England, Indonesia and Australia, but now says he wouldn't want to live anywhere else but Auckland.

"New Zealand is like the final frontier," he says. "I watch the news and I laugh, 'this is not real news' but it's refreshing. You don't have to deal with walking down the street at three in the morning and someone's gunning you down. Or you don't have to deal with a home invasion. The police don't even have guns.

"Two years ago I didn't think I would come to New Zealand. I looked on the internet and all I saw was sheep and people with tattoos on their faces."

Now he is facing the biggest fight of his career. Putting the rhetoric aside - and Tillman fulfils this other boxing requirement of talking himself up more than adequately - Williams is favoured to win.

The 26-year-old's professional boxing record reads four from four but he hasn't fought anyone like Tillman, a late replacement for Richard Tutaki who was withdrawn due to his arrest on serious charges including possession of methamphetamine and drug utensils.

There is an element of the wildcard about Tillman, who says he has never met Williams or his manager Khoder Nasser.

Tillman, who beat Tutaki in a split decision over six rounds last year, admitted he was surprised to get the late call-up but considers himself in good shape as he was training for a fight against Solomon Haumono who, like Williams, is a former league player.

"I'm gonna beat the hell out of this dude," says Tillman, who is about 127kg and stands 1.96m tall. "He can't fight, he doesn't know what he's doing. I saw his last fight with Alipate [Liava'a]. He was throwing punches and he was spinning around, turning his back. Like, who does that? When they told me that they chose me [as his next opponent], I felt disrespected almost. I was actually surprised that he was going to fight Tutaki. I think Richard would have beaten him or ... gone really close."

How close will Tillman get to beating SBW? New Zealand Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Shane Cameron, who sparred with Tillman this week, gives him a fighting chance.

"If you look at the two guys with their shirts off, you'd look at Sonny Bill and think 'he's going to win easy', but it won't be an easy win for him," says Cameron.

"Clarence is a tough campaigner, he's been around for a long time, he's sparred with some top fighters, so it will be an interesting night. Sonny will have to be on his game. He won't knock Clarence out because he knows how to survive [in the ring]. He's durable and tough and he knows what to do in there.

"He definitely has a chance. Everybody's got a puncher's chance but this guy here, obviously this is the toughest fight for Sonny to date and he's definitely got more than a chance. It will be a good step up. It's good that Sonny's taken the challenge."

As for Tillman, he says he wants to take his boxing to the next level this year, starting with Williams, a fight scheduled for 10 rounds. But he is keeping his options open, too. He has had small parts in Power Rangers (as a swim coach, which tickled him, because he can't swim) and Remember the Titans movies as well as TV show Spartacus, and is taking acting classes. He recently auditioned for a European TV commercial.

One gets the feeling his mother, Theonita, who died aged 48 in 2005, having left Louisiana only three times - and that was to visit neighbouring states - would be proud.

"Her passing, you reflect on a lot of stuff. If that's going to be my end time, in my 40s, I want to pack as much in as possible all around the world."

On thing is certain - Clarence Tillman III will have plenty more to reflect on after the latest Sonny Bill Williams drama in Hamilton next month, a show in which he wants to play a starring role.

APNZ