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SONNY BILL WILLIAMS has all but confirmed he will be a Rooster next year, but before that he has another huge challenge on his hands - fighting South African heavyweight Francois Botha at the end of next month. Speaking from Japan, Williams told me there were no more details to be finalised with the Bondi-based club and he had always intended to honour his handshake deal with Roosters supremo Nick Politis. ''It's a done deal. I made it a long time ago,'' he said. ''I know where I'm playing next year and I'm ready to meet the challenge head-on. There's no more negotiations that need to be done.'' After becoming one of the best centres in the world in rugby union, and bringing a new dimension to the rival code with his freakish offloading ability, Williams is unfazed by having to readjust to the 13-man game. ''Next year I've been out of the game for five years and next year I have to go and meet the challenge head-on, there is no other way around it,'' he said. ''That's what I'll be doing. It might take me a bit of time to adjust but I hope it doesn't. We will see how we go.'' Williams, of course, is no stranger to multi-skilling across different sports. His contract with Japanese side Panasonic Wild Knights expires in January, but even before then he has lined up a bout with Botha - the ''White Buffalo'' - in Brisbane on November 24. The 44-year-old South African has won 48 fights, lost eight and drawn three in a pro career that includes a fifth-round knockout at the hands of Mike Tyson. ''It's a bit of a daunting prospect but I believe it's a step in the right direction for my boxing,'' Williams said. ''I think the rivalry between New Zealand and South Africa in the rugby sense, it makes it a bit more special.'' Williams last fought in February, scoring a first-round TKO over American Clarence Tillman III in Hamilton. However, Botha appears a big step-up in class. ''I think when you're fighting someone with 60 fights and you've only had five, you have to prepare as well as you can,'' Williams said. ''I feel in my last fight a lot of people wrote me off and you know I performed pretty well. I performed above expectations. Hopefully this Francis Botha is someone I can do the same [against]. I guess I'm putting myself out there again in a boxing sense. A lot of people will be saying I've bit off more than I can chew this time but I'll be looking to do what I've done last fight.'' So how is he handling preparations to compete in three different sports in the space of only several months? ''I've always put myself in testing waters and to my delight so far I've come up trumps,'' Williams said. ''Right now it's a bit tricky 'cause I've got rugby commitments as well, but they've [the Wild Knights] been pretty good in that they've let me do my boxing training in the morning, and also in the afternoon do my rugby training. I feel it only improves me as a rugby player and the proof is in the pudding - the last two years I've played my best rugby, some of my best footy of my career, and I put that down to a bit of boxing on the side.''
Danny Weidler
Danny Weidler
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