Boxing: Sonny Bill sees a likely future in boxing ring

For now he's content with squeezing in boxing between his rugby commitments but Sonny Bill Williams may one day turn his back on the oval ball codes for good.

A missing pair of socks meant Williams was 22 minutes late for a press conference to announce his next fight would be a fundraiser for the Christchurch earthquake appeal on June 5.

But then Williams was happy to answer pretty much any questions thrown at him. Most of those came from concerned rugby journalists obsessed with the implications in World Cup year. Williams was steadfast in his view there was no conflict in his sporting interests.

Asked if he might take up boxing full time, he said: "Yeah, I think so. I've always said as a sportsman it is good to have options up your sleeve - just like any businessman. That probably stands on a few toes and people don't like me saying that but it is the truth."

Boxing appears to be a viable alternative for the former league international and All Black. In his last fight against the limited but by no means hopeless Scott Lewis, Williams displayed a fair degree of classical boxing ability.

More importantly, he is already a box office success. He has pledged $100,000 of his purse for his next bout at Trusts Stadium in Auckland against an as yet unnamed opponent to earthquake relief but will still make money on top of that.

It's unlikely many of his Crusaders teammates will be pulling in the same sort of wedge during their bye weeks off, nor giving quite as much away.

"I'm not going to sit here and say I am not making an earn," he said. "I am making an earn.

"Where I've come from, I didn't really come from much. I just feel like I have been blessed to be in the position I am as a sportsman to make a good earning, and I just feel morally obliged to help out the [Canterbury] people."

As for his opponent, Williams believed people had been too tough on his previous victims and said whoever he fought would possess the ability to hurt him.

"The bloke in my last fight could have knocked me out if he put one on my chin," he said. "I'll definitely be in the ring with someone who can knock me out - probably not David Tua because I want to wake up."

Although he accepts there is a risk of injury, Williams insists boxing makes him a better rugby player.

"I won't lie, there is an element of fear there," he said. "There is an element of risk. But for me to get ahead in life and test the boundaries that I want to test I have got to take those risks and face those fears. If I face those fears physically and mentally it keeps me strong.

"I know I am going to have my knockers but the day I start listening to those knockers is the day I should be giving it away. I want to push boundaries and I want to test myself and I feel that to get myself in the best possible shape for the rugby field this is the way to do it."

His sparkling form for the Crusaders was partially down to his pre-season bout with Lewis, he said.

"Mentally I knew I could go to places I didn't want to be. I feel that has helped me a lot in the Super 15 season.

"It gives me that edge. In this game you can be just as fit as the other bloke but if you have a mental edge it is going to go a long way."

As for his boxing career, Williams knows he has a long way to go before he can even think about climbing in a ring with the big boys.

"I'm not a world beater. I know where I am at. I am not going to talk myself up."