Sonny Bill Williams destroys Barry Hall with first round knockout

Sonny Bill Williams has obliterated Barry Hall in the first round of their highly anticipated fight, dominating from the first seconds before knocking the former AFL star out with a right hand.

Williams landed two left hooks early in the first round and came out the more aggressive fighter of the two, putting Hall on the back foot almost immediately. 

Barry was knocked down inside the first minute of the fight and couldn’t evade Williams’ punches, getting caught with a right hand shortly after climbing off the canvas.

The referee had no choice but to rush in and put a stop to the contest after Hall took a huge shot to the chin

The punch left Hall dazed and he was easy pickings for SBW’s final shot, which boomed off ‘Big Bad’ Barry’s chin and saw the ref rush in to stop the contest.

‘Much respect to Barry for coming here and doing this,’ Williams said after the fight.

Asked what his future in the ring holds, the Kiwi said, ‘There’s talk of [Paul] Gallen, so maybe Gallen.’ 

Williams was seen in a friendly conversation with Gallen shortly after he exited the ring. 

The easy victory takes the former All Black and NRL star’s professional record to nine wins with three of those by way of knockout, and no losses.

This was about as good as it got for Hall, who looked completely out of his depth against Sonny Bill, who improved his record to nine wins with four knockouts and no losses

The bout attracted athletes in droves, with big sporting names like former Australian Test captain Steve Waugh, ex-Kangaroos skipper Boyd Cordner, NRL bad boy Blake Ferguson and rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns in attendance.

They were joined by celebrities and Sydney identities including Roxy Jacenko, comedian Dave Hughes, John Ibrahim, businessman and Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis, and actor Damon Herriman.

The undercard featured footballer-turned-boxer Anthony Mundine’s son Rahim in his first bout – amateur or professional – in which he showed great skill and composure for a rookie to beat Fijian pug Lepani Levatia on points.

The younger Mundine had his father and his grandfather Tony, a legend of Australian boxing who once held the Australian middleweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight titles, in his corner.