Solomon Haumono

Personal information
Born	(1975-10-13) 13 October 1975 (age 48) Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	111 kg (17 st 7 lb)
Position	Prop, Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1994–96 Manly Sea Eagles 39 6 0 0 24 1997–98 Canterbury Bulldogs 25 7 0 0 28 1999 Balmain Tigers 8 1 0 0 4 2000 St. George Illawarra 2 0 0 0 0 2003–04 Manly Sea Eagles 37 1 0 0 4 2005–06 London Broncos 48 15 0 0 60 Total 159 30 0 0 120 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2003 NSW City 1 0 0 0 0 1997 New Sth Wales (SL) 3 0 0 0 0 1997 Australia (SL) 1 0 0 0 0 1995–06 Tonga 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
Boxing career
Nationality	Tonga
Other names	Solo
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	30
Wins	24
Wins by KO	21
Losses	4
Draws	2

Solomon Haumono (Tongan: Solomone Haumono; born 13 October 1975) is a former professional boxer and former rugby league footballer of Tongan descent.

Early life

He attended Newtown Boys High School, Newtown, New South Wales. He then went on to Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham and represented them in the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges Australian Schoolboys team 1993.^[2]

Rugby league career

In rugby league, his preferred position was second-row. He played in the NRL for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, the Balmain Tigers, the St George Illawarra Dragons, and in the Super League for the London Broncos/Harlequins RL. Haumono played at representative level for New South Wales and Australia, although these three state matches and one international match were in 1997, when Super League contracted players were ineligible for State of Origin selection. He also captained Tonga.

Haumono made his first grade debut for Manly-Warringah in round 11 1994 against Balmain, coming off the bench in a 42–0 victory at Leichhardt Oval. In 1995, Haumono featured heavily in the Manly side which won the minor premiership having lost only 2 matches all year. Haumono played from the bench in Manly's shock grand final loss to Canterbury. In 1996, Haumono played 14 games but missed out on selection in Manly's premiership winning side which defeated St. George in the grand final.

In 1997, Haumono signed with Canterbury who aligned themselves with the rival Super League competition during the Super League war. During the 1998 NRL season, Haumono walked out on Canterbury midway through the year after devising a plan to get out of his contract with the club. Haumono's plan was to join his supposed girlfriend Gabrielle Richens in England. Haumono elaborated on the plan saying I was under contract for the Bulldogs so it was decided to come up with a plan that would ultimately force the Bulldogs to rip up my contract, So the plan was formed that I was going to chase after my girlfriend at the time in England. So off I went and before I knew it, the paper got a hold of it and blew it up, making headline news and myself being chased by the media at home and even there in London".^[3]

The plan was devised by Haumono and close friend Anthony Mundine but fell over when Canterbury got wind of the plot and instead fined Haumono and put him in reserve grade.^[3]

In 1999, Haumono signed with Balmain. Haumono only made 8 appearances for Balmain due to an elbow injury. In 2000, Haumono joined St George but only featured in 2 games, the last of which was the club's humiliating 70–10 loss against Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[4]

Return to League

Following a second spell with Manly in 2003, Haumono joined the London Broncos and played in the capital for two seasons. In December 2006, with a year remaining on his contract, Haumono quit rugby league to return to professional boxing.

Boxing career

2000 to 2002

Haumono first took time out of rugby league after his spell with the St George Illawarra Dragons in 2000.^[5] He followed in the footsteps of his father (Australian former heavyweight champion Maile Haumono) to take up a career in professional boxing. He fought eight times between 2000 and 2002, winning all of his heavyweight contests inside the distance. Solomon briefly held the title of New South Wales heavyweight champion before rejecting an offer to join the stable of American promoter Don King and returning to rugby league.

Return to boxing – post 2008

Haumono resumed his boxing career with a first-round knockout on 7 March 2007. He began training under trainer Johnny Lewis who has assisted Haumono in reaching his 14–0 (all by K.O.) record in the heavyweight ranks. He fought Cliff Couser on 27 August 2008 and won the fight by unanimous decision. He fought Colin Wilson on 11 March 2009 with the fight going to a draw after ten rounds. Solomon won his next fight by disqualification on 16 May 2009 against Royce Sio (1w-0l-0d). Haumono was floored in the eleventh second of the first round by a right hook from Sio, but Sio then leaned down and hit Haumono again while Haumono's back was on the ground, leading to an instant disqualification. Haumono was back on his feet a few seconds later.^[6]

Haumono fought Justin Whitehead on 16 August 2009 and lost for the first time in his career by split decision. He defeated Michael Kirby by tenth-round TKO for the OPBF Heavyweight Title on 18 September 2009, and became the Australian Heavyweight Champion after a tenth-round TKO of Franklin Egobi in Melbourne on 7 September 2012.^[7]

On 31 December 2012, he fought k1 legend Kyotaro Fuijmoto under boxing rules defeating him in the fifth round via TKO.

On 28 April 2013, he lost by TKO to Kevin Johnson.

On 21 July 2016, he lost by TKO to Joseph Parker.^[8]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
30	Loss	24–4–2	Tomasz Adamek	UD	10	24 Jun 2017	Ergo Arena, Plac Dwóch Miast 1, 80-344 Gdańsk, Gdansk, Poland
29	Loss	24–3–2	Joseph Parker	TKO	4 (12), 1:35	21 Jul 2016	Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, New Zealand	For WBO Oriental heavyweight title
28	Win	24–2–2	Manuel Alberto Pucheta	KO	6 (10), 2:29	27 Apr 2016	National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, Redfern, Australia	PABA heavyweight title; Won interim WBA Oceania heavyweight title
27	Win	23–2–2	Hunter Sam	UD	10	30 Oct 2015	National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, Redfern, Australia	Won interim PABA heavyweight title
26	Win	22–2–2	Filipo Fonoti Masoe	KO	4 (6), 2:46	24 Jul 2015	Orange Function Centre, Orange, Australia
25	Win	21–2–2	Marcelo Luiz Nascimento	TKO	3 (8), 0:53	17 Oct 2013	The Melbourne Pavilion, Flemington, Australia
24	Loss	20–2–2	Kevin Johnson	KO	10 (12), 2:53	28 Apr 2013	Convention & Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia
23	Win	20–1–2	Kyotaro Fujimoto	TKO	5 (12), 0:57	31 Dec 2012	Bodymaker Colosseum, Osaka, Japan	Won vacant OPBF heavyweight title
22	Win	19–1–2	Franklin Egobi	TKO	10 (10), 2:05	7 Sep 2012	The Melbourne Pavilion, Flemington, Australia	Won vacant Australian heavyweight title
21	Draw	18–1–2	Joey Wilson	SD	8	5 Jul 2012	Sky City Convention Centre, Auckland, New Zealand	Retained WBC–EPBC heavyweight title; Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title
20	Win	18–1–1	Junior Pati	KO	2 (6), 1:02	8 Dec 2011	The Arena, Fortitude Valley, Australia
19	Win	17–1–1	Michael Kirby	TKO	10 (12), 0:21	18 Sep 2009	Pavilion, Melbourne, Australia	Won OPBF heavyweight title
18	Loss	16–1–1	Justin Whitehead	SD	10	16 Aug 2009	Peninsula, Shed 14 Central Pier, Docklands, Melbourne, Australia	For vacant World Boxing Foundation International heavyweight title
17	Win	16–0–1	Royce Sio	DQ	1 (6), 0:15	16 May 2009	Blacktown RSL Club, Blacktown, Australia
16	Draw	15–0–1	Colin Wilson	PTS	10	11 Mar 2009	The Cube, Campbelltown, Sydney, Australia
15	Win	15–0	Cliff Couser	UD	8	27 Aug 2008	E.G. Whitlam Recreation Center, Liverpool, Australia
14	Win	14–0	Tommy Connelly	TKO	3 (6), 0:27	27 Feb 2008	Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia
13	Win	13–0	Seiaute Ma'ilata	KO	2 (6), 0:40	10 Dec 2007	Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia
12	Win	12–0	Mosese Kavika	KO	1 (6), 1:15	21 Apr 2012	Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Australia
11	Win	11–0	Oscar Talemaira	TKO	1 (6), 1:37	25 May 2007	Ex-Services Club, Coffs Harbour, Australia
10	Win	10–0	Alex Mene	TKO	3 (6), 1:07	27 Apr 2007	Magic Millions Complex, Bundall, Gold Coast, Australia
9	Win	9–0	Fatu Tuimanono	KO	1 (4), 1:24	7 Mar 2007	Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia
8	Win	8–0	Fatu Tuimanono	TKO	2 (6),	14 Jun 2002	Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia
7	Win	7–0	Auckland Auimatagi	TKO	6 (10),	10 May 2002	Central Coast Rugby League Club, Gosford, Australia	Won Australia – New South Wales State heavyweight title
6	Win	6–0	Shane Wijohn	KO	5 (6), 1:40	19 Apr 2002	La Montage Function Centre, Sydney, Australia
5	Win	5–0	Mark Alexander	TKO	3 (6),	4 Mar 2002	Jupiters Hotel & Casino, Broadbeach, Australia
4	Win	4–0	John Wyborn	KO	2 (10), 2:31	13 Jul 2001	The Octagon, Sydney, Australia
3	Win	3–0	Martin Opetaia	TKO	7 (8),	2 Mar 2001	Star City Casino, Sydney, Australia
2	Win	2–0	Paul Srama	KO	1 (6),	4 Sep 2000	Horden Pavilion, Moore Park, Australia
1	Win	1–0	Ken Fuller	KO	2 (4),	3 Jul 2000	Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia

Personal life

Haumono is married to Margaret, who is a cousin of his friend and fellow rugby league player-turned boxer Anthony Mundine. Solomon and Margaret have five children.^[9]

He dated English model Gabrielle Richens for a period of time during his time with Canterbury.

In 2015, Haumono revealed he had been suffering a drug addiction during his league career. He was addicted to ice, cocaine and ecstasy.^[10]