Former New Zealand rugby league star Nelson Asofa-Solomona made a sensational start to his boxing career, delivering a brutal first-round knockout against fellow ex-player Jeremy Latimore.
The 29-year-old represented the New Zealand rugby league team 16 times and spent his entire professional rugby career with Melbourne Storm, where he played for a decade, scoring 35 tries in 215 appearances before switching sports last year.
After retiring from rugby league, Asofa-Solomona signed a three-year deal with promotional company No Limit and quickly made his mark in the ring. Stepping through the ropes to face former NRL star Jeremy Latimore on the undercard of Nikita Tszyu vs Michael Zerafa in Brisbane, he wasted little time asserting his dominance.
Midway through the opening round, Asofa-Solomona began to overwhelm Latimore, forcing him onto the back foot after narrowly missing with a powerful overhand right. Moments later, a sharp jab followed by a crushing uppercut sent Latimore crashing to the canvas. Clearly dazed, Latimore struggled to regain his footing before the referee stepped in to stop the contest.
Despite the emphatic victory, Asofa-Solomona remained self-critical in his post-fight comments, while also praising Latimore for having the courage to step into the ring.
“A lot of people wouldn’t dare step in this ring,” he said. “It was good, it was a bit wild, but I’ll go back to the drawing board and try to perfect everything in the game.”
Looking ahead, Asofa-Solomona made it clear he is eager to continue his crossover journey and isn’t short on confidence. When asked about potential future opponents, he suggested he would be open to facing other former NRL players.
“Any NRL player can get it. I want to clean up the whole NRL division and then we can go from there,” he said.
Former England international George Burgess has already been mentioned as a possible next opponent, but a showdown with Australian NRL star Paul Gallen appears most likely. Gallen was in attendance for the fight and had previously been called out by Asofa-Solomona.
“Gal likes the coin, I heard,” Asofa-Solomona added. “So for the right price he’ll come out of retirement. That’s a fight we can make down the track.”
