It says much about Australian boxing that as the sport prepared to step back in time, with a rare free-to-air television broadcast of what is being billed as a major spectacle, the buzz around All Phones Arena on Friday was about a possible fight between two footballers.

Sonny Bill Williams will square off with American heavyweight Chauncy Welliver as the headline act of next month's inaugural Footy Show Fight Night in Sydney but it is his hints at a future showdown against Paul Gallen that will have the masses salivating.

Suited and booted: Sonny Bill Williams in Syndey on Friday. Credit:Getty Images

Gallen is also on the January 31 card against an opponent yet to be confirmed, as is Wallaby Quade Cooper and teenage Sydney Roosters forward Willis Meehan.

Friday's announcement was compered by former Cronulla winger and Channel Nine funnyman Beau Ryan.