Ando’s Shout: Rex Hunt speaks exclusively on his altercation with a patron at the boxing

Making a one-off appearance as a ring announcer, Rex Hunt got into an altercation of his own. He lifts on the lid on the moment he channeled a Hollywood hard man.

Rex Hunt has opened up on his biffo at the boxing. Picture: Michelle Winters

Rex Hunt has spoken for the first time of an altercation last weekend that saw him take a leaf from the book of his hero Clint Eastwood.

Hunt, 72, was making a one-off appearance as a ring announcer at the Melbourne Pavilion when he noticed a “low-life lurking with intent”.

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“I was just sitting there talking to the old timekeeper when I saw this bloke with his mates behind him staring into the VIP area. Maybe it was the old copper in me, but I thought, ‘You are up to no good’,” Hunt said.

“The next thing he’s heading to the VIP powder room with a briefcase under his right arm. So I’ve gone up and said to the Tongan standing outside, ‘Do you remember me?’

“The Tongan said, ‘Yeah, how are you Rex?’ So I asked him to cover my back for 30 seconds so I could speak to the gentleman. I went in and said to the bloke, ‘G’day mate’. He said ‘G’day’. I then said, ‘Nice briefcase’ before politely asking, ‘Is it yours?’ He just said ‘yeah’ and that’s when I responded, ‘No, it’s effing not’, which prompted him to throw a punch at me.

Rex 'Clint Eastwood' Hunt says you don't mess with old blokes.

“I was worried a knife would be next so I thought, ‘I’ve only got one chance here so make it a good one, Rexy’. I went whammo with my right, and dislocated my finger. The next thing I remember he was lying next to one of those yellow lollies in the urinal.

“So I grabbed the briefcase and walked out. The Tongan said, ‘Everything all right Rex?’, to which I replied, ‘I’ve never been better’.

“A few minutes later his mates helped carry the low-life out and one yelled to me, ‘You are f***ing mad, old man’.

“I said, ‘Watch halfway through Gran Torino (where Clint Eastwood plays the ageing hero Walt Kowalski) and learn not to f*** with old blokes’.”

The briefcase was then returned to a journalist Seb Costello, who thanked Hunt profusely. Hunt replied: “I just used some negotiating skills that can be useful.”

Originally published as Ando’s Shout: Rex Hunt speaks exclusively on his altercation with a patron at the boxing