Mundine rings the changes

Anthony Mundine practises on the heavy bag

BBC Sport Online's Sanjeev Shetty reports on a boxing debut which has captured the imagination of thousands of Australians.

Former rugby league star Anthony Mundine will make his professional boxing debut on 3 July in Sydney.

Mundine, who turned his back on rugby league earlier in the year, citing entrenched racism as one of his reasons, will fight Gerrard Zohs, a former super-middleweight champion of New Zealand.

Mundine's father Tony is a former Commonwealth champion who was knocked out by former world champions Luis Rodriguez and Carlos Monzon.

Although there is a great deal of interest in his pugilistic debut, some members of the public believe that his move to a different sport caters more to his love of the limelight.

A stand-off with St.George-Illawarra Dragons until April this year, Mundine is being trained by Johnny Lewis, who has trained world champions like Jeff Fenech.

Mundine has always expressed an interest in boxing

Mundine's good mate, and fellow rugby league nomad, Solomon Haumono will fight on the undercard.

Pay-per-view channel Main Event have reported tremendous early interest in his debut, which will go out live on three major television networks in Australia..

"The boxing fans are interested in finding about a new boxer and then there's this group of people who just want to see him get his head smacked in," said Main Event's head of production David Turner.

Mundine is not the first sportsperson to have a go at boxing after establishing themselves in another sport.

American footballer Mark Gastineau became a heavyweight without notable success during the early 90s.

Former Houston Oiler and Dallas Cowboy running back Alonzo Highsmith engaged in 30 contests.

During the 70s, Ed Too Tall Jones was eager to challenge Muhummad Ali, although fortunately the match was never made.