Willis Meehan

Willis Meehan
Personal information
Full name Willis Pele Meehan
Born (1995-09-11) 11 September 1995
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position Second-row, Prop, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014 Sydney Roosters 1 0 0 0 0
As of 15 October 2015
Source: [1]

Willis Meehan (born 11 September 1995) is an Australian professional boxer.[2][3] He previously played professional rugby league for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League. He played at second-row, prop and lock. He has been compared to good friend and another rugby league-boxer and former teammate Sonny Bill Williams.[2]

Background

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Meehan moved to New South Wales, Australia, at a young age and played his junior football for the Wyong Roos, before being signed by the Sydney Roosters.

Playing career

In 2013 and 2014, Meehan played for the Sydney Roosters' NYC team.[4] In 2013, he played for the Australian Schoolboys. In Round 14 of the 2014 NRL season, Meehan made his NRL debut for the Roosters against the Newcastle Knights.[5] On 2 September 2014, he was named at lock in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.[6] In 2015, Meehan was stood down by the Roosters after being charged with robbery in company and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.[7] He was sacked by the club in July 2015.[8]

Boxing

Willis Meehan
Statistics
Nickname(s) The Hitman
Rated at Heavyweight
Height 195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Nationality Australia Australia
Born Willis Pele Meehan
(1995-09-11) 11 September 1995
Auckland, New Zealand
Stance Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights 5
Wins 5
Wins by KO 4
Losses 0
Draws 0
No contests 0

As a 17-year-old, Meehan won the Australian super-heavyweight boxing title and hoped to fight at the Commonwealth Games,[9] narrowly missing out. In 2016, he hopes to fight at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10]

On 31 January 2015, Meehan fought on the undercard of the Sonny Bill Williams v Chauncy Welliver bout.[11]

On 15 November 2015, Meehan defeated Leamy Tato; however, the main event saw Meehan's father defeated by Joseph Parker.[12]

4 Wins (3 knockouts), 0 Losses, 0 Draws[13]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Won 4–0New Zealand Leamy Lakopo Tato TKO 2 (6), 0:30 2015-10-15 New Zealand The Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
Won 3–0United States Freddie Miller TKO 2 (4), 2:43 2015-01-31 Australia Allphones Arena, Sydney, Australia
Won 2–0Australia Alofa Solitua KO 1 (4), 1:28 2014-12-03 Australia Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia
Won 1–0New Zealand William Quarrie UD 4 (4) 2014-11-22 New Zealand North Shore Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand Professional debut

Personal life

Meehan is the son of professional boxer, Kali Meehan.[9] He converted to Islam in 2015.[14]

In April 2015, Meehan was charged with headbutting a man and stealing his watch near The Star, Sydney.[15] However, he was not convicted after his robbery in company charge was thrown out.[14] Meehan later revealed he had been working, while playing for the Roosters, as a stand-over man to settle debts for hardened criminals.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Willis Meehan - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1995-09-11. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  2. 1 2 PHIL ROTHFIELD (12 July 2013). "The new version of Sonny Bill Williams has been discovered". THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  3. ↑ LIAM NAPIER (3 Nov 2014). "Talented Meehan junior mixing things up". Stuff.co.nz (Fairfax New Zealand). Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "rleague.com has been shutdown". rleague.com.
  5. ↑ "Late Mail: Sydney set to welcome its newest Rooster". roosters.com.au. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "HOLDEN CUP TEAM OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED". Rugby League Week.
  7. ↑ "Sydney Roosters youngster Willis Meehan to be stood down for alleged casino assault". ABC News (Australia). 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  8. ↑ Rothfield, Phil (19 July 2015). "Roosters forced to sack boom forward Willis Meehan after a series of off-field issues". dailytelegraph.com.au.
  9. 1 2 Kieza, Grantlee (5 April 2014). "Sydney Roosters teenager Willis Meehan on track for Commonwealth Games boxing spot". couriermail.com.au.
  10. ↑ David Riccio (8 June 2014). "Willis Meehan has been chosen as 18th man for the Roosters clash against the Storm". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  11. ↑ CHRIS BARCLAY (1 February 2015). "Sonny Bill Williams wins comfortable unanimous decision". Stuff. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Video: 'Stop the f**king fight' - Boxer pleads with referee to stop fight for opponent's sake". Independent.ie. 23 Oct 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Willis Meehan". BoxRec.
  14. 1 2 Jamie Pandaram (9 October 2015). "Sacked Sydney Roosters player Willis Meehan reveals his role as standover man for criminal gangs". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Sydney Roosters forward Willis Meehan stood down after headbutting a man and stealing his watch". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. ↑ David Skipwith (15 October 2015). "Boxing: Meehan Jr credits SBW for turnaround". NZ Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.