Stan launches pay per view boxing match

Stan has announced a new pay-per-view offering, Stan Event, which will launch Turf War, a boxing bout between ex-NRL /Rugby Union player Sonny Bill Williams vs ex-AFL player Barry Hall.

The event to be held at at the ICC Sydney on March 23 with Stan customers able to purchase tickets for $50.  Customers that are new can sign up for a 30 day free trial and then purchase the fight when available. Select venues  will also stream the event.

Stan Acting Chief Executive Officer Martin Kugeler said: “This announcement highlights another major milestone for Stan, with Turf War set to be one of Australia’s biggest sporting spectacles in 2022. We are thrilled to be launching Stan Event, our brand new pay-per-view proposition, and showcasing this epic heavyweight bout. Sonny Bill Williams and Barry Hall are some of the biggest names in Australian sport and we have no doubt this will be a memorable night for fans.”

Sonny Bill Williams said: “For the first time in my professional sporting career, I am fully concentrating on boxing. My focus on winning this fight begins with a phenomenal opportunity to join the world’s biggest name in boxing, Tyson Fury, at his training camp in the UK immediately, to ensure I am 100% prepared for this fight. 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.”

Barry Hall said: “I showed against Paul Gallen that I can go the distance and go hard. 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.”

Two-time Rugby World Cup winner, Sonny Bill Williams, with an unbeaten career record of 8-0, including three knockouts, will enter the ring for the first time since June 2021. In March 2021, Williams retired from an illustrious playing career which included 123 NRL matches, headlined by Premierships in 2004 and 2013. Williams matched this success in rugby union with 58 caps for the All Blacks, one of only 21 players ever to win two Rugby World Cups in 2011 and 2015. Having previously won a New Zealand heavyweight title, Sonny Bill Williams is now seeking to dominate in boxing the way he has in rugby union and rugby league, and focus on climbing the boxing ranks.

Despite having a successful junior boxing career featuring a state title at a young age, Barry Hall excelled in AFL football and progressed quickly through the ranks. An AFL Hall of Fame legend who enjoyed a 289 game-AFL career, Hall captained the Swans to their historic drought-breaking Premiership in 2005. In 2019, Barry Hall impressed in his professional boxing debut with a hard fought draw against Paul Gallen, taking the former rugby league player the distance as few others have.

The two fighters will go toe-to-toe over 10 three-minute rounds. Both men will have plenty to prove and will be in terrific condition, having solely focused on their boxing careers for the course of 2021 in anticipation for this bout.

Turf War is promoted by Green Machine, led by four time world champion Danny Green, together with Khoder Nasser’s SBW Promotions, and will also feature a stacked undercard with at least five professional bouts in the lead up to the highly anticipated main event.