BoxRec

Hall v Hoppa in cross-code boxing war?

Former Sydney Swans AFL star Barry Hall may make his professional boxing debut against ex-NRL bad boy John Hopoate, in a battle of the football codes that shapes as a boxing promoter's dream.

Hopoate has signed on to fight on the undercard of the bout between Kiwi heavyweights David Tua and Shane Cameron, and Hall has been approached to step in the ring with the current Australian heavyweight champion.

‘‘I’ve already put an offer of sorts to both camps and John Hopoate has certainly indicated that he is keen to fight – and keen to fight Barry Hall,’’ fight promoter David Higgins told Fairfax.

‘‘Everything else is in place so all we’re waiting on now is for Barry to accept.’’

The fight between Tua and Cameron has been labelled New Zealand's fight of the century, and Higgins is hoping to spice up the undercard with a high-profile Australian fight in a bid to boost pay-per-view sales.

Higgins has offered Hall a portion of the pay-per-view sales, that are already expected to be healthy given the large number of Kiwis living in Australia.

A confirmed bout between the two bad boys of football would send the fight to another level, given the intense cross-code rivalry between NRL and AFL fans, that has only increased with the recent defection of Brisbane Broncos fullback Karmichael Hunt to the AFL.

The bout is also scheduled for the night before the NRL Grand Final, leaving it well-placed to cash in on the hype of Grand Final week.

‘‘We think it would be a great opportunity for Barry Hall to launch his boxing career in front of what would be a huge television audience in both Australia and New Zealand and we’re certainly willing to share the upside of this fight,’’ Higgins said.

Hall, who quit the Swans last month, has reportedly attracted interest from a number of the AFL clubs including the Western Bulldogs for next season, leaving a switch to boxing up in the air.

But the volatile forward has indicated he's certainly open to the prospect of switching to boxing, and is planning to ben in Danny Green's corner for his world title fight on the undercard to the Roy Jones jnr-Jeff Lacy bout on August 15.

I think it is moronic to put barry in with hopoate in his 1st fight, a lot of money hungry people are.
Hopoate is a pretty average boxer but he does have world class power, let barry improve his skills and have some fights 1st and condition himself properly for boxing.

Barry who?

its to increase the sell of the PPV in Australia more then likely, AFL v NRL "Who is the toughest code" some bullshit like that especially after Karmichael Hunt defected to AFL, i think it would be great to have Hoppa KO someone like Hall you just runs his mouth. Because at least now Hoppa has learnt that boxing isn't as easy as he thought when he started.

thats like lawrence dallaglio fighting danny williams.

boxing is more of a circus that a sport in australia.

won't happen..........Barry values his anal virginity, unlike most league players. No 'digital' coverage for Barry.

Seriously though, he is a professional athlete, there is no way he would be managed poorly enough to allow this to happen. There is a greater chance of Marlin learning how to hand ball correctly :P

Spoke to close contact. Barry won't be fighting. It was just another bulls**** stir by Media

adnileb wrote:Spoke to close contact. Barry won't be fighting. It was just another bulls**** stir by Media

I knew it

toppity wrote:won't happen..........Barry values his anal virginity, unlike most league players. No 'digital' coverage for Barry.

Seriously though, he is a professional athlete, there is no way he would be managed poorly enough to allow this to happen. There is a greater chance of Marlin learning how to hand ball correctly :P

Well said.