Sonny Bill Williams stopped Barry Hall in the first round of their bout at the Aware Super Theatre in Sydney on Wednesday.
It was a complete mismatch with Williams putting Hall on the canvas three times in the opening round.
45 seconds in, a left hand from Williams dropped Hall for the first time. Another 45 seconds later, Hall was down again, and just moments after that Williams decisively caught his opponent once more. The fight was over with not even two minutes elapsed.
The fight, which was scheduled for eight rounds, was billed as rugby versus Aussie rules. The 36-year-old Williams won 58 caps for the All Blacks while the 45-year-old Hall - who played international rules for Australia against Ireland - played in the AFL for St Kilda, Sydney and Western Bulldogs. Hall captained Australia to victory against Ireland in the infamously brutal 2006 international rules series.
Sonny Bill Williams stops Barry Hall
IT'S OVER 🤯 SBW has a first-round knockout! #StanEvent #TurfWar #SBWvHall pic.twitter.com/0Wd4Ydejo7
— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) March 23, 2022
Williams had spent six weeks training in Ireland with former middleweight world champion Andy Lee prior to the fight. Lee was in Williams's corner on Wednesday.
The fight was the ninth professional bout of Williams's boxing career, and he is now 9-0 with four KOs. It was the second fight of Hall's career, and his first in two-and-a-half years.
"That’s unbelievable," said Australian boxing legend Danny Green on commentary.
"That was incredible from Sonny Bill Williams. He just smoked him. I’m just in shock.
"He didn’t miss. He was so accurate. I’m just so impressed with Sonny Bill. That was just a domination against a beast of a man in Barry Hall."
After his victory, Williams said: "I hit him with one punch - I can’t remember which - but then he walked off. That’s when I knew he was hurt. Then I went into freestyle mode. Just tried to get him out of there.
"I’m happy for myself, but I’m happy for my loved ones who support me, and yeah, there’s a lot more going on than sport, but I’m glad sport gave my close ones happiness too."
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