Cooper feels boxing will toughen him up

While Wallabies and Reds fly-half Quade Cooper sets his sights on his undercard bout with Barry Dunnett, ahead of the Sonny Bill Williams fight with Francois Botha, the 24-year old believes it’ll help his rugby career.

“Mentally, boxing is something else,” said Cooper, highlighting the psychological preparation required for boxing.

“You have to push your body through so many different limits and it’s something that I’ve grown from and will continue to grow from, and the more I put in the more I’ll get out of it.

“Mentally, boxing makes you a whole lot stronger and some of the training things I’ve had to go through are things I never thought possible and I’ve pushed my body to whole new limits.

“So I’m very excited about the rugby season and the fight just around the corner,” he said.

On the rugby field, Cooper has been critisised about his lack of defensive strength, with fellow Reds and Wallabies winger Digby Ioane often filling in Cooper’s fly-half channel on defence, while Cooper himself is positioned at fullback.

“I feel this is something that has put me in a good position leading into the rugby season,” Cooper said.

“It has given me something else to focus on and also been able to get me in great condition fitness wise as well as mentally.”