'What a farce': Australia rages over Sonny Bill-Barry Hall 'disgrace'

Barry Hall has been forced to apologise to boxing fans after being destroyed by Sonny Bill Williams in the first round of their highly anticipated fight in Sydney on Wednesday night.

New Zealand's dual code footy superstar dominated the AFL great from the opening seconds, before romping to an easy KO victory inside two minutes.

'HE'S A LIZARD': UFC fighter's hilarious Mark Zuckerberg call-out

'WHAT A DISGRACE': Aussie boxer's disqualification divides fans

Williams jolted the Sydney Swans premiership winner in the first 30 seconds with some crisp, accurate shots.

Hall was down after just 47 seconds, though referee Les Fear said he didn't see a punch.

It looked like Hall had been hit with a left hook and he appeared unsteady after standing up.

With Williams showing all the hallmarks of a much younger and fitter fighter and Hall reduced to a punching bag for the Kiwi star, there was an air of inevitability about the final result.

Within 40 seconds, the 45-year-old Hall returned to the canvas after taking a couple of big shots, but the punishment was far from over.

A ruthless Williams ended the contest a few seconds later after he landed a big right hand to the cheek that again felled Hall, prompting Fear to end the one-sided contest after one minute and 55 seconds.

Fans immediately took to social media afterwards to slam the embarrassingly lopsided nature of the fight.

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield tweeted: “What a farce", while NRL commentator Phil Gould added: “I’ve spent $50 on greyhound races that lasted longer than that fight.”

Hall himself felt the need to apologise to fans afterwards after admitting that perhaps nerves got the best of him against a man nine years his junior.

“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 said.

“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.”

Sonny Bill Williams maintains unbeaten record in style

Ringside commentator and Aussie boxing legend Danny Green said he was thoroughly impressed by the manner of Williams' victory.

“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.”

The 36-year-old Williams, who weighed in 11 kilos heavier than Hall, improved his professional record to 9-0 while Hall dropped to 0-1-1.

"There's a reason why only one per cent of people do this type of stuff. So much respect for Barry and his team for coming in and doing this," Williams said.

"Because I was nervous before the fight."

Asked about his next fight, Williams referred to the long-talked about match-up against fellow former NRL great Paul Gallen.

"There's talk of Gallen, so maybe Gallen," SBW said to rousing cheers from the crowd.

with AAP

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.