Boxing: Paul Gallen labels Kris Terzievski ‘a cat’ over Sonny Bill Williams plan
Kris Terzievski has an audacious plan to take on two of the biggest cross-code boxing stars in quick succession. But Paul Gallen has shut him down in a scathing attack.
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Paul Gallen has launched a scathing verbal assault on rival Kris Terzievski after the Victorian vowed to defeat the former NRL champion and then take on cross-code star Sonny Bill Williams.
While Gallen has all but given up hope of a multimillion-dollar showdown against Williams, he labelled Terzievski “a cat” for thinking he could defeat him and Williams in quick succession.
“It would be absolutely insane for a kid to come from absolute obscurity to fight Gallen and Sonny Bill back-to-back,” Terzievski said.
“It will be a crazy opportunity that I would take with both hands.”
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But Gallen, who fights Terzievski for the Australian and Australasian heavyweight titles on May 11 in Newcastle, said his rival’s only loss – to Faiga “Django” Opelu – proved he is a quitter.
“He probably does have better boxing skills than me, he’s younger, he’s had an amateur career, but I just look at the fights he’s had as a pro, he hasn’t fought anyone like me, at all,” Gallen said.
“The only bloke who had a go at him was Django, and he didn’t come out for the sixth round.
“He is a cat. Deep down he is a cat, and he knows it.
“Everyone he’s fought and beaten, he’s had his own way with. Their gas tank has emptied in one or two rounds and he’s been able to do whatever he’s wanted to them.
“My gas tank is not going to empty in 10 rounds, how is he going to handle that pressure? He won’t.
“I can’t get the Sonny fight so if he can get it, let me know how to do it, I’ve been chasing it for 10 years and that’s pretty much over now.
“But he won’t be beating me. If he thinks he’s going to get through me and then get Sonny, he’s dreaming.
“I’m determined to get this done and beat him.”
Gallen (12-1-1, 7KO) faces a taller, younger man with amateur experience from the age of 15.
Terzievski (10-1-1, 8KO) is a 32-year-old southpaw who stands 191cm – 12cm taller than Gallen – and is determined to end the former NSW State of Origin captain’s boxing career.
“I’m giving it my absolute all for my own personal reasons, and if it does happen and I beat Gallen and he doesn’t fight anymore, I’d feel for him because of all he’s done for Australian boxing, it would be a passing of the torch,” Terzievski said.
“You want to make your biggest bang for your buck, this is the hurt business and for me to get an opportunity on that type of platform against two big names – Sonny Bill is a global superstar – it would be amazing.
“In this country, these opportunities don’t come around every day.
“It’s full on, it’s scary. This journey has taken me on a crazy ride and I just want to ride the wave all the way.”
The Gallen vs Terzievski showdown will headline a huge pay-per-view event that will feature Nikita Tszyu and Harry Garside on the undercard.
For Terzievski, this fight can set up his future.
“At the end of the day, you want to take the most out of the sport without it taking the most out of you because it is an unforgiving game,” he said.
“As much as it has given me great things, it is a dangerous sport. Get in, get out with your faculties intact and be as successful as I can be.
“Gallen has given a lot of opportunities to people in Aussie boxing, so I even thought about messaging him on Instagram to say I’d love an opportunity to compete against you at bridgerweight, we could bring attention to that.
“Then Sonny Bill beat Barry Hall, and a lot of my mates were like ‘He won’t fight you, they’re going to tee up the Sonny Bill fight’. And I thought the same.
“Literally two weeks later I got a message saying ‘Would you fight Paul Gallen?’ I was talking about this a few weeks ago and it’s come to fruition, crazy.”
‘I would bash Gallen’: Big Joe’s savage swipe at Huni
- Peter Badel
Cocky Joe Goodall has given Justis Huni a savage uppercut by ridiculing the Australian champion’s struggle to knockout NRL legend Paul Gallen as the pair prepare for heavyweight title fireworks.
Goodall (8-0-1, 7KO) and Huni (5-0, 4KO) are both unbeaten and 210kg of pugilistic muscle will collide when the pair go toe-to-toe on June 15 at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena in a clash labelled the biggest heavyweight bout in Australian boxing history.
For Huni, it will represent his comeback fight — almost one year to the day since he disposed of Gallen in a 10-round slugfest that left him with the busted hand that shattered his Olympic dream.
While Huni clearly dominated Gallen (12-1-1, 7KO) and eventually dropped him in the final round despite his hand injury, Goodall scoffed at the result, saying he would have knocked out the 40-year-old retired league star in half the time.
“It was a good result for him (Huni), he got the win, but it was someone like Gallen who I don’t believe is even a boxer,” Goodall said.
“Gallen isn’t going 10 rounds with me.
“I would bust that guy up and stop him in four rounds.”
It was a statement of intent from Goodall. Forget going the distance. Big Bad Joe is coming to annihilate Huni.
Clearly, Goodall is sick of living in Huni’s shadow. And he is dangerously improving, having spent the past six months honing his craft in America, doing the hard yakka sparring with the best heavyweights the States can offer.
For the past 18 months, Huni has been the poster boy of the domestic heavyweight scene.
From his historic Australian title win in his pro debut, to the subsequent heartbreak of missing the Olympics after his defeat of Gallen, Huni has stolen the limelight, leaving Goodall to settle for the painful anonymity of second best.
'What happens in sparring, stays in sparring’ 👀
— MAIN EVENT (@MainEventTV) April 21, 2022
Joe Goodall knows Justis Huni VERY well, but the heavyweight’s lips are sealed 🤠pic.twitter.com/fIKeVoupzW
But now Goodall has his golden moment to dethrone Huni.
When the twin towers enter the ring, they will trade blows for three regional belts, bragging rights and, most importantly, a newly-minted top 15 world ranking with the WBO and IBF.
That puts the victor in world-title territory. The loser will suffer the first defeat of their professional career.
“It’s a huge fight, the biggest heavyweight fight in Australian boxing history,” said the 197cm Goodall, who won a silver medal as an amateur at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
“My time in Las Vegas has been good to me. You spar against the cream of the crop over there.
“I’m here to show I’m no. 1 in Australia. At 29, I’m in my prime and it’s time to show Australia what I’ve got and why I’m the best heavyweight.
“I am definitely the bigger puncher. I have more power — six of my seven knockout wins were in the first round.
“It’s seek and destroy. I always come to fight early. I’m a fast starter and I come to take out every opponent I’m in the ring with,
“There’s a lot of gossip in the boxing world and apparently they (the Huni camp) were organising fights after me.
“If they were, they were definitely underestimating me. They will be in for a rude shock on June 15.”
This will be the toughest test of Huni‘s embryonic professional career, but the 23-year-old has regularly sparred Goodall over the years. The pair estimate they have sparred more than 200 rounds. Huni knows his rival’s weapons and predicts he will blow Big Bad Joe away.
“There will be fireworks,” Huni said. ”We are Australia’s best heavyweights, so bombs will be dropped and it’s possible someone will get knocked out.
“With respect to Joe, I am the better boxer and I will be the better boxer on the night.
“It’s good to be back. It was hard missing out on the Olympics, but I want to take all the frustration from that and put it into this performance.”
Huni’s manager Mick Francis believes Goodall is a major threat.
“Joe has been training in the states, it will be close,” he said.
“Joe has good height and a good reach, but he doesn’t have the power Justis has.
“Personally I think Justis will stop Joe late in the fight and if he does it will be a massive statement for Justis.”
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