CROSSING OVER

Five other athletes who moved to boxing

ED ‘TOO TALL’ JONES AMERICAN FOOTBALL

The former Dallas Cowboys NFL player had two stints at American football, sandwiched between a two-year (1979-1980) break for boxing. A former Golden Gloves fighter, he went 6-0 (5) with his fights broadcast on CBS in America due to the interest in his sporting background.

CURTIS WOODHOUSE FOOTBALL

A midfielder for Sheffield United and Birmingham, among other clubs, Woodhouse dispelled any novelty status in British rings with several hard fights and went on to capture the British title against Darren Hamilton in 2014. He started a comeback last year.

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS RUGBY UNION/LEAGUE

A star of New Zeland’s rugby league and then union teams, Williams won two rugby World Cups at the latter. He also compiled a 7-0 boxing record as a heavyweight, including the scalp of veteran Frans Botha, between 2009 and 2015.

ANTHONY MUNDINE RUGBY LEAGUE

The divisive Australian Mundine was a gifted sportsman. A good former rugby league player, he won the WBA super-middleweight title and talked his way into big domestic grudge fights Down Under with Danny Green and Daniel Geale.

CONOR MCGREGOR CAGE FIGHTING

MMA star Mcgregor [below] found himself in the highest-grossing fight in combat sports history ahead of his predictable 10-round defeat to Floyd Mayweather, who moved to 50-0 with the win. It was Mcgregor’s boxing debut.