Boxing: Darcy Lussick chills while Paul Gallen bickers with No Limit Boxing over fight rules

As Paul Gallen stews over the rules of his upcoming fight against Darcy Lussick, his promoter, No Limit, have been forced to rubbish any suggestion they were trying to sabotage their fighter.

A relaxed Darcy Lussick. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Tension has emerged between Paul Gallen and promoters No Limit Boxing over his shortened fight against Darcy Lussick.

Gallen believes he is being treated as the “B-side” fighter after the heavyweight bout was reduced to three two-minute rounds at the request of Lussick, who is a late replacement for Josh Aloiai who withdrew after contracting Covid.

Gallen has signed a three-fight deal with No Limit but there are simmering relations between the fighter and promoters, stemming back to Aloiai’s wish of eight by two-minute rounds being accommodated.

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Darcy Lussick and Paul Gallen face off at a Christmas-themed media event at Moore Park. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Lussick is taller, heavier and stronger than Gallen, who will rely on his boxing skills and workrate to win this bout.

But shortening it to just six minutes of fight time greatly helps Lussick and disadvantages Gallen.

“I’m not happy with No Limit at the moment, they’ve been quite frustrating,” Gallen said.

“Am I the B-side opponent, or am I the A-side opponent?

“My previous opponent got to dictate to them what he wanted, and (Lussick) is dictating to them again.

“They know me, they know my attitude. I’ve got multiple text messages saying I’d fight anyone on the list that was named in the paper a week or two ago, and I think they know that.”

Solomon Haumono, Mark Hunt, Faiga Opelu and mixed martial artists Junior Tafa and Isi Fitikefu all put their hands up to fight Gallen, and he told No Limit he would take any of them on.

Paul Gallen has savaged No Limit boxing for treating him as a b-side boxer.

Gallen was then shocked to learn that Lussick had been picked by No Limit, and that they’d buckled to his demand to only fight three two-minute rounds.

“I just get frustrated that they’re dictated to by the opponent, whose side are you on? Am I with you or am I not? Am I the A-side or the B-side?” Gallen said.

“I’ve got three fights with them. I’m not going to keep doing this two-minute round stuff. It’s not the way it should be.

“I don’t know what’s going on there, all I’ve got to do is prepare and get the win.

“They put the opponents in front of me, they’ve got to do the fight that sells the best, they’re the experts, but I’m not sure at the moment whether I’m the A-side or B-side of the whole promotion.”

No Limit boss George Rose rubbished any suggestion they were trying to sabotage Gallen.

“We are in the entertainment business, we have to give fight fans a reason to tune in and that reason is that this is a 50-50 contest and nobody can really be sure who will win,” Rose said.

No Limit promoter George Rose sits next to Paul Gallen during the press conference for the upcoming bout. Picture: No Limit Boxing / Brett Costello

“We admire what Gal can do in the ring, he’s a proven performer, but if we made a fight of six by three-minute rounds against Darcy, who has just four weeks to prepare, we all know that Gal would win that.

“This makes it a more even fight.”

While Gallen and No Limit are bickering, 32-year-old Lussick is enjoying a relaxed build-up that he says is better than his previous fight camp before he knocked out Justin Hodges in 39 seconds.

“This one is a lot calmer, we know what we’re doing, the sessions are fully planned out,” Lussick said.

A relaxed Darcy Lussick. Picture: Gregg Porteous

“It’s good that I’ve been through that whole process, especially on fight night, I know exactly what to expect, we know what works and what doesn’t.

“It’s just a sense of calmness that you want before a big fight.

“I’m calm. Playing NRL for however many years, with a big game coming up you get used to it. Obviously this is the biggest sporting event of my life, clearly, and I’m sure on the night I’ll be nervous but right now I feel great.

“I’m really confident in the plan my team have put together, the training they’ve got me doing, and I genuinely believe I can go in there and beat him.”

Originally published as Boxing: Darcy Lussick chills while Paul Gallen bickers with No Limit Boxing over fight rules