Sydney Super Fight: Mark Hunt issues warning to Paul Gallen ahead of their heavyweight battle
Paul Gallen is taking a huge risk by accepting a fight against Mark Hunt at Bankwest Stadium in December, revealing injury will prevent him from throwing a punch at training for weeks.
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Paul Gallen was a Mark Hunt fan.
He even got tickets from Hunt to watch him fight in the UFC in Melbourne.
Now, as he prepares to face the mixed martial arts knockout king in a six-round heavyweight boxing clash, the NRL warrior has likened the task to facing the greatest in league.
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“It’s like a young half or five-eighth going up to play against Andrew Jones or Brad Fittler, that’s the way I look at it,” Gallen said.
“He’s a legend of mixed martial arts all around the world. It’s going to be good to get in there with him.”
The pair were respectful toward each other at Wednesday’s official announcement of the Sydney Super Fight show, where they will be on the same card as Tim Tszyu vs Bowyn Morgan at Bankwest Stadium on Wednesday, December 16.
However, Hunt warned: “I’ll knock anyone’s teeth out, if it’s a fair fight.”
After an ugly finish to his UFC career – Hunt is still embroiled in a legal case against the company – the 46-year-old is ready to notch his first win in boxing, having had a loss and a draw in the ring before he became a worldwide sensation in the Octagon.
“I’ve got the passion back for fighting, the UFC stole that from me, and I’ve got the hunger back for this fight with Gallen, because it’s Paul Gallen - he’s a footy legend,” Hunt said.
“We’re fighting here at home together, and this is probably going to be one of my last fights here at home, 21 years in New Zealand, 25 years here in Australia. So I’m looking forward to fighting at home, and what better place to do it.”
Gallen, who suffered a bicep tendon injury in sparring a few weeks ago, resisted his doctor’s recommendation for surgery, and instead will do sprint and cycling cardio conditioning for the next three weeks, before returning to sparring.
“It’s been three weeks now, I’ve had no punching and it will probably be another three weeks before I’m punching,” Gallen said.
“But I’m working on fitness in other areas.
“They say you lose 10, 20 per cent of your strength in that arm, but does that reflect the transfer of power in the boxing ring? Probably not.
“When you’re in footy, you get exposure to physios, doctors, rehab equipment every day. Now I’m retired. I don’t have that much exposure at my disposal every single day.
“So it’s just something I don’t really want to do. And I know a couple of other guys who have done it and haven’t had the surgery yet, and they live fine.”
Hunt predicts he’ll floor Gallen within three rounds.
Gallen (9-0-1, 5KO) said he doubts he’ll be able to hurt “The Super Samoan”, but believes he’ll outpoint him over the distance.
“I’m not too concerned about breaking him down and stopping him, I’m prepared to go six rounds,” Gallen said.
“That’s what we’re training for, to be strong enough to go six rounds comfortably.
“And it’s heavyweight boxing, you will get hit at some stage, but I’ve just got to not get hit by some big clean shot and I think with my fitness I’ll come over the top of him.”
Revealed: Blockbuster fight night locked in
- Jamie Pandaram and David Riccio
One of the biggest boxing events ever staged in Australia has been secured for Bankwest Stadium in December, with Tim Tszyu headlining a card that will also feature the highly anticipated showdown between Paul Gallen and Mark Hunt.
In a first, two headlining main events will be on the same show at an event dubbed ‘The Sydney Supershow’ under lights on December 16 in Parramatta, the NSW Government has announced.
After his breakthrough victory against Jeff Horn, world-rated Tszyu fights Kiwi Bowyn Morgan in his next step towards a championship belt.
In the co-main event, NRL legend Gallen takes on former UFC knockout king Hunt, a fight that has been brewing for months and had originally been planned as a major bout on its own.
A recent bicep injury to Gallen threatened to scrap the fight for 2020, but he has opted against surgery and will rely on extra time off to prepare for the grudge match in seven weeks’ time.
NSW Minister for Tourism, Stuart Ayres, announced the event at Bankwest Stadium on Wednesday morning, capping a series of major sporting events for Sydney including last weekend’s NRL grand final, this Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup and the second State of Origin clash at ANZ Stadium on November 11.
Tszyu is now rated by all four major sanctioning bodies in the super-welterweight division; No. 2 in WBO, No. 4 in IBF, and No. 8 in both WBC and WBA.
On August 26, he scored a technical knockout after Horn could not come out for the ninth round, moving to 16-0 with 12 knockouts.
Morgan (21-1, 11KO) suffered his only loss in 2016, and has since won 14 successive bouts.
But the 31-year-old from Christchurch has not fought outside of New Zealand and will be a heavy underdog against 25-year-old Tszyu, who could become mandatory challenger for WBO champion Patrick Teixeira with a victory.
Gallen, 39, had been under an injury-cloud after suffering a bicep tendon injury earlier this month – but is desperate to fight Hunt after an ongoing war of words between the pair since the start of the year.
Both fighters have ties to Western Sydney with Hunt raising his children in Campbelltown and Gallen born in Guildford, making Bankwest Stadium an ideal venue for the blockbuster ‘battle of the west’.
The fight will be a return to combat sports for Hunt, 46. He has been inactive since December 2018, when he lost a decision to Justin Willis in the final fight of his UFC contract.
Auckland-born Hunt is a former world kick-boxing champion, who had 18 UFC outings for eight wins, eight losses and a draw.
The “Super Samoan” has only competed twice in professional boxing — once in 1998 and once in 2000. He holds a pro-boxing record of 0-1-1.
Gallen (9-0-1) last fought in November 2019, with the verdict of a six-round bout against Barry Hall decided as a majority draw.
Before that, the NSW State of Origin and Sharks premiership-winning captain stopped John Hopoate in round two and scored a unanimous decision against Puna Rasaubale.
Gallen opted against surgery after injuring his bicep in training in early October due to the extended recovery period he would need to endure.
In an interview with 2GB, Gallen explained that he would lose “20 per cent” of his strength due to not having surgery, with the injury leaving him 10-weeks to be ready for the battle with Hunt.
In an interview a fortnight ago with 2GB, Gallen said: “I rang Mark myself yesterday and spoke to him and said, ‘I’m not trying to give you the run-around, I’m not stuffing around.
“It is still a chance of happening and we’re waiting on the promoter to finalise dates and location and things like that.
“It’s definitely still in the pipeline, I’ve just got to get better. The fight won’t be till at least December, so I’ve got 9-10 weeks.
“If I was a rugby league player, I’ve spoken to a couple over the past couple of days with the same injury, and they’ve missed up to a month and some have played the next week.
“It comes down to pain, I can’t do any more damage because it’s ripped off the bone, the tendon itself, it comes down to pain and what I can do.”
Tickets for the Sydney Superfight go on sale at 10am Monday 2nd November via Ticketek.
Tickets are priced from $29 and are strictly limited due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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