'You better watch your mouth bro': The 'greedy' question from TV host that Sonny Bill Williams couldn't cop

Sonny Bill Williams' promotional visit to New Zealand got decidedly testy on Friday when the multi-sport star took umbrage with a question on live television.

Herald NOW host Ryan Bridge asked Williams whether he had been "greedy" in previous fight negotiations with Paul Gallen, which had delayed their much anticipated heavyweight boxing showdown in Sydney on July 16.

"You better watch your mouth bro," Williams fired back at Bridge.

Sonny Bill Willams vs Paul Gallen at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena on July 16 is available to order live and exclusive on Stan Pay-Per-View for $70

"Or I'll come over there soon and see who's greedy, right brother?"

Bridge responded: "This is my studio, you can't talk to me like that."

Said Williams: "Just because you've got nice hair this morning, doesn't mean I won't get off this chair."

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Bridge countered with: "Not just nice hair, but a nice face" before moving the awkward back and forth on.

The pair then squared off at the end of the interview.

Williams was taking a short break from intense training at Opetaia Boxing on the Gold Coast.

He later told reporters in Auckland that the animosity between he and Gallen was genuine.

"The way he conducts himself and carries himself, and how he speaks about me… I look at it like I'm representing my Polynesian brothers," Williams explained.

"And him calling me dumb, for example, calling me a dummy… I've been in the (rugby and league) sheds with these individuals where they suck up all the oxygen. And because us Polynesians are taught to be quiet and respectful and don't speak unless spoken to, because we don't say anything, all of a sudden it means we're dumb.

"It doesn't mean we don't have opinions, and it doesn't mean we don't have brains. We just let them speak. So him speaking like that, really observing the way he's conducted himself, I really think he thinks he's better than me… better than us."

New Zealand heavyweight world title contender Joseph Parker was also at the press conference and predictably backed his mate Williams to down Gallen.

Williams, with relative youth and size on his side, is rated a slight favourite with the bookmakers.

"I feel like Sonny is in the right camp, he's taking the fight very seriously and doing the right things to work on what he needs to," Parker said.

"Gallen is tough, he's a brawler, he throws big shots. If Sonny can learn from the best and pick up what he needs to pick up on, he can come out there and dominate."

Tickets for the super-fight at Qudos Bank Arena are on sale via Ticketek.