Barry Hall has backed Sonny Bill Willaims to beat Paul Gallen as their grudge fight now looms large.
Williams annihilated Hall with a first round knockout in Sydney on Wednesday night and immediately attention went to the possibility of league great Gallen taking on New Zealand’s cross-code superstar in a fight that has been talked about for years.
Hall, an NFL legend, and Gallen fought out a lively draw over six rounds late in 2019, so Hall has a gauge on both fighters.
“One thing I can compare is I took Gallen’s punches,” Hall said when asked how Williams and Gallen would stack up.
“They certainly don’t have as much sting as Sonny Bill’s. I was a sitting duck tonight.
“I’d like to see them go at it, if I’m perfectly honest. I’d certainly be ringside. Going off tonight… I think I beat Paul Gallen, but you’d have to think Sonny Bill wins.
“He’s put in a lot of work, very dedicated, but styles make fights and both of their styles are totally different. It’d be very interesting but you’d have to say Sonny Bill at this stage.”
Williams has been working Joseph Parker’s coach Andy Lee in Britain and his development showed, as he put Hall on the canvas three times to end the one-sided contest after one minute 55 seconds.
Williams is now 9-0 with four knockouts in his boxing career.
Hall said he was embarrassed by his efforts and apologised to fans.
“I’m really disappointed obviously because I put in a lot of work, as he did, but I know all the fans out there will be disappointed,” Hall told media after the fight.
“I apologise. I apologise to my family because I feel like I’ve let everyone down.
“I was quite nervous today, which is rare for me. The Paul Gallen fight I wasn’t nervous at all, so it’s a bit out of character. Maybe just the hype, the build-up, I don’t know what it was. But I just wasn’t myself today…
“I congratulated him and manned up. He was the better man on the night.
“He hits hard and I got caught. What do you say? I’m going to go home to my beautiful family. I’m really disappointed, and I’m not sure where the road leads.”
Ringside commentator and former multiple world champion Danny Green was impressed by Williams’ effort as the former All Black and Kiwis league player looks to push on with his boxing career.
“That’s unbelievable. That was incredible from Sonny Bill Williams. He just smoked him. I’m just in shock,” Green said.
“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.
“Barry got caught cold. Full credit to Williams. He didn’t miss when he was doing the finishing. He did it with precision.”
Australia’s world lightweight champion George Kambosos was also impressed with Williams.
“The sharpness, the fakes from Sonny were incredible. When you catch someone early like that and put the pressure on, it’s very hard to recover,” Kambosos said.
Williams’ performance got headlines internationally with major boxing website and mainstream British media covering the fight.
In Ireland, home of his new coach Lee, irishboxing.com said: “The Andy Lee effect was clear for all to see as Sonny Bill Williams made a successful boxing return.
“It was ruthless from SBW, some might say Kronk-like, particularly as one of the Kronk’s most famous graduates, Lee was in the heavyweight’s corner.”
