Hall-Williams fight locked in for March
SYDNEY - After months of speculation the fight is finally on.
Footy stars-turned-boxers Barry Hall and Sonny Bill Williams will come to blows in a cross-code fight on March 23.
It will take place in Sydney with Williams looking to extend his eight-fight unbeaten record against Hall who he said was “nowhere near my class”.
“For the first time in my professional sporting career, I am fully concentrating on boxing,” Williams said.
“I know Barry Hall is a very hard man and his debut proved he has a tonne of skill, but he is inexperienced in the ring and nowhere near my class level.
“This fight against Hall starts the last chapter of my sporting career and I will take this win and move on to further big fights over the next 24-36 months.”
Hall, who had a draw with Paul Gallen in 2019 in his last fight, said Williams had never faced “anyone of my size or skill”.
“I showed against Paul Gallen that I can go the distance and go hard,” Hall said.
“Sonny is a hugely talented individual but has not ever faced anyone of my size or skill. The lad has had everything laid on a silver platter in his boxing career to date.
“Sonny Boy has made a mistake in taking this fight, I intend to finish his boxing career and open up bigger fight opportunities for myself.”
An All-Blacks representative and dual NRL premiership-winner, Williams is the more experienced boxer of the two.
He has won all eight of his professional bouts, most recently defeating Waikato Falefehi by unanimous decision in June last year.
Prior to that, Williams hadn’t fought since 2015, instead choosing to spend the late 2010s focusing on his rugby union and league careers.
Hall, who captained the Sydney Swans to the 2005 AFL premiership, has fought professionally just once before in that draw with Gallen.
Despite his lack of experience, the four-time All-Australian earned a reputation as a tough guy during his AFL days.
He infamously punched Brent Staker in the jaw during a game between Sydney and West Coast in the 2008 season, knocking the Eagle out and earning himself a seven-game suspension.
BRISBANE - Warriors coach Nathan Brown says as many as two-thirds of his squad have tested positive to COVID-19 at their Australian base, and some are yet to be fully vaccinated.
Brown and Kodi Nikorima fielded questions in an online press conference on Thursday from the team’s base in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, less than two months out from their NRL opener against the Dragons on March 12. Their first pre-season game is next month.
Brown confirmed the widespread infection in the squad, saying while he couldn’t give an exact figure off the top of his head he believed “two-thirds” of the squad were infected.
“There’s still a couple that are isolating at the moment. There’s been a large chunk,” Brown said.
Brown admitted some members of the team were not yet fully vaccinated.
“Pretty much everyone in the squad that’s here at the moment are either fully vaccinated or have one shot to go which is coming shortly. We haven’t got any players to worry about that at the moment.”
While training had been “a mixed bag” in the past week or so due to players either isolating or testing positive, he expected rapid improvemeSnTtUsF.
Sonny Bill Williams.