Ex-England rugby league international George Burgess was given a rude introduction to professional boxing.The former Wigan Warriors and South Sydney prop locked horns with two-time NRL Grand Slam winner Nelson Asofa-Solomona on the Lewis Crocker vs Liam Paro bill on Wednesday night in Brisbane, Australia.Burgess swung for the fences, but was stopped in the third roundGettyWhile Burgess was making his professional debut, Asofa-Solomona had boxed twice previously, knocking out fellow rugby stars Jeremy Latimore and Jarrod Wallace inside four rounds.That experience showed early on as Asofa-Solomona picked Burgess off behind a stiff jab.Late in the opening stanza, the towering 6ft 7in Kiwi put Burgess on skates with a clubbing right hand and poured on the pressure in search of the finish.But the Englishman did the right thing in holding on and seeing out the round.By the second round, both of the big men, who tipped the scales at 299lbs and 307lbs, respectively, were really feeling the pace. It looked as though they were fighting underwater at points as the fight quickly turned into an ugly slugfest.Burgess shipped some big shots and was rocked backwards by a ram-rodding jab. But, to his credit, he never stopped swinging.While he was far from refined, there was no questioning the Yorkshireman’s heart.Heading into the third round, it felt as though Burgess was on the verge of a heavy knockout loss.View Tweet: https://x.com/hashtag/CrockerParo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwA massive right hand stopped Burgess in his tracks as he backed up against the ropes.Sensing his moment, Asofa-Solomona came forward with vicious intent and ended up bundling Burgess to the canvas.Thankfully, Burgess’ corner realised that their man was badly hurt and threw in the towel to save him from himself.While there was bad blood in the build-up, Burgess and Asofa-Solomona shared an emotional moment in the immediate aftermath as they paid tribute to former NRL star Jai Arrow, who was recently diagnosed with motor neurone disease at just 30 years old.Both men agreed to auction off their fight gear with the proceeds going to Arrow and his family.“Jai was in our hearts tonight,” said Asofa-Solomona.Watch Boxing on DAZN*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenueSign up to DAZN to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.Upgrade to DAZN Ultimate from just £24.99/month, guaranteeing access to 185+ fights annually, a minimum of 12 pay-per-views at no extra cost, as well as every Lega Serie A match and other elite football access.Alternatively, DAZN Standard is just £15.99/month, with the caveat you will have to pay for pay-per-view events.Click here to sign up.