Boxing 2022: Sonny Bill Williams has weighed into Barry Hall after headbutt furore

Sonny Bill Williams has labelled Barry Hall ‘fragile and vulnerable’ after the former AFL star headbutted him at the weigh-in ahead of their heavyweight clash.

A fired up Sonny Bill Williams has labelled Barry Hall “fragile and vulnerable” after the former AFL star headbutted him at the weigh-in ahead of their heavyweight clash at the ICC Exhibition Centre in Sydney on Wednesday night.

The pair of retired footy players had been respectful in the build-up to the bout, but tensions threatened to boil over when they finally met face-to-face on Tuesday afternoon.

After hitting the scales, the pair of former premiership winners faced-off, with Hall slowly inching closer and closer to Williams.

As Williams held his ground, Hall launched a headbutt, before the pair was separated by former world champion turned promoter Danny Green, and Williams’ trainer Andy Lee.

Sonny Bill Williams fights Waikato Falefehi on the Fight For Our Future card in Townsville. Picture: Matthew Elkerton

“I’ve always thought he’s a fake tough guy, so it’s good to see him up close,” Williams told News Corp afterwards.

“He seemed very fragile and vulnerable up close. I just saw a bit of anxiety and nervous energy.

“It’s gonna be a good fight — that’s why only one per cent of people do this kind of stuff.”

Paul Gallen collects Barry Hall during the Code War Boxing night at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne in 2019. Picture: AAP

Hall said he hadn’t planned the head-butt, but after a relatively muted build-up so far, needed to let Williams know he’s in a fight.

“It wasn’t intentional, it just happened that way. It’s a fight,” he told News Corp.

“It’s been respectful so far — that’s his character, and mine too for that matter. But it’s not trash talk when it’s the truth, and I’ve just told truth the whole way through.

“That’s the difference. He’s tried to trash talk, which has been a bit lame, so stick to your strengths. Stick to offloads.”

World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury with Sonny Bill Williams in England.

Williams’ trainer, former middleweight world champion Andy Lee, who has spent time working with heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, believes Hall’s antics show the magnitude of the bout is getting to him.

“It was quite revealing. Maybe a bit of nervous energy from Barry Hall being in a situation that he hasn’t been in before,” Lee told News Corp.

“Sometimes you agree to these things, you say ‘yeah’, but then the reality comes and you’ve actually gotta get in there. There’s a dawning, a reckoning that he has to come to terms with.

“It wasn’t fabricated, you could see he was ready to go.”

Barry Hall competed on SAS Australia 2022 before succumbing to a rib injury and withdrawing.

Williams will head into the fight with an 11kg weight advantage after tipping the scales at 109.1kg to Hall’s 97.8kg.

Williams’ most recent fight was a six-round decision victory over journeyman Kato Falefehi in Townsville in June last year. The untelevised bout ended Williams’ six-year hiatus from the ring, but it was hardly the triumphant return he envisioned after he was knocked down early in the bout.

Hall was a promising amateur boxer before focusing on footy, and his only professional boxing experience to date is a controversial draw with Gallen in December 2019.

Green, who is promoting the bout labelled ‘Turf War’ said the heated weigh-in is a decent preview of what fans can expect on Wednesday night.

“You’ve just gotta remember, these guys are highly strung at the moment — they’re revving,” he told News Corp.

“Internally, they’re trying to compartmentalise that adrenaline and it’s gotta come out somewhere.

“The testosterone’s racing, the body is peaking and it’s hard to contain that energy.

“It’s a very good lead-in to what’s going to happen in the ring.”

Originally published as Boxing 2022: Sonny Bill Williams has weighed into Barry Hall after headbutt furore