Gallen v Huni: Ex-NRL star to cancel bout if forced to fight in Queensland
Paul Gallen will walk away from his million-dollar payday if his fight with Justis Huni takes place in a state that has caused him so much pain.
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Paul Gallen has threatened to walk away from his million-dollar payday against Justis Huni if he is forced to fight in Queensland.
The late change of date from June 25 to June 16 has left promoter Dean Lonergan scrambling to find a venue, having locked in the Hordern Pavilion only to be told it would not be available a week earlier.
Among Gallen’s conditions for the Australian heavyweight title bout was that he would not fight in Queensland.
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But Lonergan has pencilled in Gold Coast Convention Centre as an option because he has yet to finalise a deal with alternative Sydney options, the ICC Exhibition Centre and Qudos Bank Arena.
Lonergan is also talking to Brisbane’s Convention Centre and must lock in a venue within 48 hours, with the fight just six weeks away.
It’s understood Gallen will make up to $1.5 million from the fight against Huni, with $900,000 guaranteed and the lion’s share of the pay-per-view split, but the NSW State of Origin legend said no amount of money will change his mind about the venue.
“The fight won’t happen, me and Dean had an agreement, I don’t even need a contract, we shook hands, if I have an agreement and shake hands with someone I don’t need a piece of paper, I’m going to honour what I say I’m going to do and I expect the same from him,” Gallen said.
“He’s changed the goalposts multiple times now, first the fight was in July, then the 25th of June, now the 16th of June, I’ve just finished a fight. At my age, a break would’ve been nice.
“So we do everything we can to support this bloke and accommodate Huni.
“We had an agreement it would be at the Hordern Pavilion, I’m not going to Queensland, the fight won’t happen if that’s where he wants to go.
“He needs to sort it out this week, the fight is six weeks away, we need to prepare for a 10-round fight, it’s very hard to prepare when you don’t know if the fight is going ahead.
“I’ve told him, and if he wants to carry on about it, it will be cancelled.”
It’s understood broadcasters Main Event asked Lonergan to move Gallen v Huni to the earlier date so it would not crowd promotion for their following pay-per-view, Tim Tszyu versus Michael Zerafa on July 7.
“Paul needs to be realistic, we’ve had to change the date at short notice and it’s difficult to find a venue but I’ll sort it out within the next couple of days,” Lonergan said.
“Gallen thinks that to win this fight he has to go the distance, because he hasn’t said once yet that he can knock out Justis Huni.
“He’s worried about Queensland judges and referees but there is no need to be concerned because firstly, we can have neutral officials as we’ve done in the past, and most importantly, Gallen is getting knocked out so there will be no need for judges’ scores.”
Gallen (11-0-1, 6KO) has a rematch clause in his contract against Huni (3-0, 3KO) and could fight him again in October after Huni competes for Australia at the Tokyo Olympics.
Paul Gallen supremely confident ahead on Huni bout
- Peter Badel
Paul Gallen has warned Justis Huni he is coming to snatch his Australian title as he prepares to celebrate a monster $1.5 million payday against the Brisbane-born heavyweight champion.
Gallen demanded the Huni camp “sharpen the pencil” to make the fight financially attractive and promoters have come to the party with a package that will deliver a seven-figure windfall for the former NSW Origin captain.
Organisers are in the advanced stages of formalising a two-fight deal, with Gallen (11-0-1, 6KO) and Huni (3-0, 3KO) to square off on Wednesday, June 16, with an option in the footballer’s favour for a return bout after the Tokyo Olympics.
Gallen originally stood to pocket $900,000 from their inaugural bout, but News Corp can reveal the 348-game NRL legend will earn more than $1 million by jumping into the ring with Australia’s heavyweight kingpin.
Four venues are being investigated including Brisbane’s Nissan Arena, the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Sydney’s ICC Convention Centre and Qudos Bank Arena at Homebush.
Gallen pocketed an estimated $450,000 from his stunning 115-second upset of Lucas Browne a fortnight ago and now he could not only fight for the Australian title against Huni, but become a millionaire the second he steps into the ring.
“I guarantee this will be the best deal of his career,” Lonergan said.
“We’ve worked out a percentage deal and it is skewed significantly in Paul Gallen’s favour.
“The reality is Gallen is the A-side in terms of the purse and that’s fair enough given he has a bigger profile than Justis acquired from his last 20 years in the media as an NRL star.
“Gallen asked to sharpen my pencil, well I’ve sharpened the lead out of it and we are close to signing this agreement.
“June 16 is the date for the first fight and then we will look at a second fight after the Olympics … if Gallen survives the beating he’s about to get.”
It shapes as a hectic calendar for Huni, who will fight Christian Tsoye (5-3-2, 4KO) on May 26, then take on Gallen just three weeks later before heading to Japan for his shot at Olympic gold as an amateur.
Lonergan scoffed at Gallen’s suggestion their bout was brought forward by nine days to help Huni buy more recovery time for the Olympics in case he suffers a shock defeat.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.
“This is the date that Fox (broadcaster) has given us. We have zero fear of Paul being able to knock Justis out.
“I truly admire Gallen’s courage, he has balls the size of watermelons, but the reality is Paul is another boxing bum Justis will be fed on the way to his Olympic dream and an eventual world-title shot.
“Gallen is getting all cocky and talking it up, but Justis will happily shut his mouth and he will do it in a painful way.
“Paul is going to take a beating round after round. He says he was scared coming out for the fight against Lucas Browne and he will be scared when he‘s in the ring against Justis copping blow after blow in a merciless attack.
“The truth is this could be Paul Gallen’s last serious payday before he gets knocked out and Justis finishes his career for good.”
Huni vows to hand Gallen boxing lesson
— Jamie Pandaram
Justis Huni has vowed to give Paul Gallen “a boxing lesson” when the pair clash in their heavyweight showdown.
Gallen said he was already inside Huni’s head after the planned June 25 date is being shifted to an earlier timeslot – with Gallen certain this is to avoid Huni missing out on the Olympics in case he gets knocked out .
But Australian heavyweight champion Huni (3-0, 3KO) has dismissed Gallen as a genuine boxing rival.
“It will be a boxing lesson, that’s what will happen in that fight,” Huni told News Corp.
“I’ll expose Gallen.
“I respect what he’s done in his last two fights, but I’m a lot different to Lucas Browne.
“Respect to Lucas Browne, but I’m a lot faster than him, I move my feet a lot quicker and better than most of these heavyweights in this country.
“If it’s for the Australian title, it’s going to be a 10-rounder, it’s a matter of how long Gallen will be able to take the punishment.”
The final details of the bout are being ironed out, but it’s set to take place on June 16 in Sydney.
Having knocked out Browne in just 115 seconds, Gallen (11-0-1, 6KO) will earn a career-high payday of $900,000 for taking on Huni, the best heavyweight prospect to emerge from Australia.
Huni will head to Tokyo to fight for an Olympic gold medal after his bout with Gallen – Olympic boxers are allowed up to 10 professional fights before they become ineligible to compete at a Games.
Gallen says the change of date from June 25 is because if he knocks Huni out, the 22-year-old would be ruled out of the Olympics due a mandatory 30-day stand-down rule.
“It’s not a big deal for me, I’ll fight closer to the Olympics, it doesn’t bother me,” Huni said.
“Gallen talks about knocking me out. There’s no chance in the world that I’m going to let him be able to land a clean knockout punch on me.
“This fight will be no dramas for me.
“My team is just looking out for my best interests, they want me at my best for the Olympics. That’s my promoter and manager handling that, I’ve got no idea with the dates, I just get told the date and I make sure I’m prepared and ready.”
Huni fights on May 26 against Australia’s No.7 ranked heavyweight Christian Tsoye (5-3-2, 4KO) – Gallen is ranked No.4.
“Gallen’s not in my head, there’s no chance he’s in my head. I haven’t even thought about his and my fight, I’m focusing on the fight I’ve got coming up so he’s honestly the least of my worries at the moment,” Huni said.
“I’m not looking past my next opponent because I’ve got respect for all of my opponents.”
Huni was surprised by Gallen’s destruction of former world heavyweight champion Browne.
“I was shocked, Gallen proved a lot of people wrong in that fight so huge respect to him, a lot of people thought Lucas Browne would have that fight in the bag,” Huni said.
“I’ve got a fight coming up this month with a guy who is a lot more credible as a boxer than Gallen.”
At just 22, Huni will headline one of the biggest heavyweights fights ever held in Australia against Gallen, but he is ready for the pressure.
“If and when I medal at the Olympics, I’m going to have to be used to it,” he said.
“It’s going to be big when I medal at the Olympics and come back here, I’ll have to get used to it.”
Gallen: Huni fears I’ll end his Olympic dream
- David Riccio
Paul Gallen says Australian boxing prodigy Justis Huni fears his Olympic dream could be shattered – leading his camp into a mad scramble to change the original fight date.
The former NRL star added that he was “already in the head” of Huni with his camp spending the last 24-hours desperately trying to scrap the original June 25 fight date in order to avoid being ruled out of the Tokyo games due to a Gallen knockout.
It is mandatory in the sport of boxing for fighters to stand-down from all competition for a minimum 30-days following a TKO (technical knockout).
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By signing-off on the much-anticipated bout, both fighters agreed that June 25 would be the date for the Gallen-Huni showdown to be held at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
However, the 22-year-old’s camp have realised that June 25 would leave the best heavyweight fighter in the country only 28-days to recover before the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on July 23.
But on Saturday, Gallen said that not only was the new fight date June 16 – 37-days before the Tokyo Games opening ceremony – but the location of the fight was also uncertain.
“I’m back here agreeing to what he wants,’’ Gallen said.
“I agreed to fight him in early July, then it got pushed back to June 25 and now it’s the 16th of June.
“I was told that July was too close to his Olympic preparation and then I’ve been told that June 25 sits too close to the mandatory stand-down (for a knockout) to the Olympics.
“He’s been wanting to go to the Olympics since he was seven-years-old, so I’ve been told, but clearly his camp began to think, ‘what if?’
“What if I knocked him out?
“I’ve been happy to agree, but now they want the fight in Brisbane and not Sydney.
“That’s something I have no interest in. I want the people of Sydney to enjoy what will be a great night of boxing.
“It just keeps changing for him. At some point, I have to say enough is enough.’’
Gallen began his preparation for Huni with his first sparring session on Saturday.
The fight has emerged after Gallen’s stunning recent knockout of Lucas Browne.
The 39-year-old is again showing how seriously he is taking his boxing career by stepping in with the best heavyweight fighter in the country.
Gallen will pocket the biggest purse of his boxing career at around $900,000.
He said he held no fears taking on the outstanding Huni.
“I am not afraid of anyone, and I’m not afraid of a challenge. He’s got Australian boxing on his shoulders, all the pressure is on him, once again there is absolutely no pressure on me,” Gallen told News Corp.
“I’ve taken on a former K-1 world champion, a former heavyweight world champion, and now Australia’s best champion, it’s time to take on the young gun.”
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Originally published as Gallen v Huni: Ex-NRL star to cancel bout if forced to fight in Queensland
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