Beloved former Warriors winger/turned boxer Manu Vatuvei admits he was the heaviest he'd ever been in his career, before preparing for his upcoming professional debut on Saturday night.
The 32-year-old will take on David 'The Brown Buttabean' Letele in the undercard of Joseph Parker's fight with Alexandra Flores.
Boxers are known for their pre-fight trash talk, but you won't hear any sledging from Vatuvei this week.
"He's just out there to prove that anyone can do anything and can get out of a bad situation," Vatuvei told Newshub.
Letele's not the only one looking to get out of a bad situation. After rupturing his Achilles playing in the Super League, Vatuvei returned home to New Zealand.
"Coming off doing nothing for this whole year, I gained a lot of weight and I've been at my heaviest throughout my whole career."
And as he pondered his future, his daughters led him astray.
"Daddy normally eats their leftovers, but now I've had to be more disciplined."
That gave him some food for thought, that he could perhaps make a fist of boxing.
"I love the sport of boxing," he said. "I was always afraid to jump in the ring, but now that I've got taste of it, it's something I want to keep doing."
While his rugby league teammates called him "The Beast" for his destructive runs along the touchline, this time, he'll enter the ring alone.
"In the game of league, you've got 12 guys round you who can protect you, but here, you've got yourself to kind of go out there and perform."
Newshub.
