Boxing: Sonny Bill offered bout in South Africa

Sonny Bill Williams celebrates winning the Battle for the Belt match against Clarence Tillman III in February. Photo / Getty

Sonny Bill Williams has been offered a fight in South Africa on June 16 but may have to turn it down because it clashes with an All Blacks test against Ireland.

Williams' manager Khoder Nasser has been in South Africa trying to line up a bout for the New Zealand heavyweight champion and has also told Super Rugby sides his client wouldn't be averse to playing for a South African franchise.

Williams will play in a sevens tournament there in December.

"We have given him an offer to fight in the country on June 16," Golden Gloves representative and former boxing champion Brian Mitchell told South African media. "We are waiting for his representatives to get back to us.

"He certainly is a big character, there is certainly lots of talk and interest on him. It would be nice to have Williams come down to the country. We are hoping that he will."

A quick glance at the rugby calendar would suggest this is impossible. Williams has been in good form for the Chiefs this season and would be expected to make the All Blacks squad for the June tests.

He has clauses in his New Zealand Rugby Union contract that allow him to fight twice a year but it can't interfere with his rugby commitments.

His professional boxing record stands at five fights and five wins, with three by knockout, since his debut in 2009. He beat Clarence Tillman in February to claim the vacant New Zealand Professional Boxing Association heavyweight title.