Boxing news: Paul Gallen risks $1m payday against Sam Burgess by fighting Darcy Lussick
Paul Gallen is taking a massive risk fighting Darcy Lussick next week as he eyes a mega-bout against another former NRL star.
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Paul Gallen is risking a $1 million payday for six minutes in the ring, but a crazy sparring session has him predicting a knockout victory against Darcy Lussick to set up a showdown against Sam Burgess.
The mind-boggling situation facing Gallen next Wednesday night is that if he loses to Lussick, his mega-bout against Burgess planned for next February disappears down the drain.
Given his fight against Lussick is only three two-minute rounds, Gallen is effectively risking a seven-figure payday for six minutes of ring time against Lussick.
Watch Paul Gallen vs. Darcy Lussick LIVE on Main Event available on Foxtel & Kayo, Wednesday 22nd December from 7pm AEDT. ORDER NOW >
Speculation is swirling that Burgess will be in attendance at The Star to get a first-hand look at his potential opponent.
While Lussick is younger, taller and heavier than Gallen, the 40-year-old former NSW Origin captain is confident of victory after a wild final sparring session.
Sparked by a sucker punch, Gallen “went to war” against undefeated cruiserweight Jason Whateley (9-0, 8KO) last Wednesday night.
“My trainer Graham Shaw told me this has been my longest camp, we don’t need to go too hard against this guy, but as soon as we touched gloves he threw a right hand flush on my face,” Gallen said.
“From that moment we absolutely went to war. It was the most fierce spar I’ve had, we did six rounds and it was an absolute fight.
“At the end I turned around and said ‘What the f--- was that first punch?’ And Jason said my manager Pete [Mitrevski Jr] had told him to attack me from the first second.
“They were completely opposite messages, but afterwards I realised it was just what I needed, because Darcy is going to come at me looking for that first-round knockout.
“I survived Jason Whateley trying to knock me out for six rounds, and Darcy hasn’t got an ounce of the experience of Whateley.
“After that sparring session, I’m confident I can get the knockout win.”
Much has been made over the shortened three-round fight, with Gallen clearly displeased because it favours Lussick, and he says he will demand three-minute rounds against Burgess should he prevail.
“If I do go out and win this fight and the next one is against Sam Burgess, well Sam Burgess is an absolute athlete,” Gallen said. “We’ve just seen what he did on that SAS show, there’s no way Sam Burgess can’t do three-minute rounds.
“So if it’s going to be him, we should be doing it as properly as we can, so I will be saying that. Whether it happens or not is up to [promoters] No Limit.”
However, Gallen (11-1-1, 6KO) doesn’t pretend to be a poster boy for boxing purists.
“I made my own bed when I said I’m a prize-fighter, I can’t all of a sudden say I’m a boxer now and I need to be doing this and that,” said Gallen, who is expected to earn around $700,000 for this bout.
“I’m sure people will be judging me next Wednesday but I am a prize-fighter and I’m not going to change from that, and I’ve got to do whatever the promoters put in front of me.
“I can’t question their philosophy behind it, they’re the best promoter in Australia, that’s up to them.
“So-called boxing people want to get stuck into me, ‘We’re not going to watch this, what a waste of $60’. You should be thinking about Harry Garside and Sam Goodman who are fighting on the same show.
“I haven’t seen Sam Goodman fight, but everyone is telling me he’s an absolute weapon, and Harry Garside won the first Olympic boxing medal for Australia in 33 years, and people are questioning watching this event.
“I’m happy to give Harry and Sam the platform to become pay-per-view fighters in their own right, that’s what I want.
“I’m happy to be the head of this show so that one day Harry can be a pay-per-view fighter like Tim Tszyu has become.”
FIGHT CLUB
THE 135KG STRONGMAN SPARRING GALLEN
-Jamie Pandaram, Nick Walshaw
Almost a year after he was set to fight a Game of Thrones superstar, Australian strongman Alex Simon will finally make his hyped professional boxing debut.
Once crowned the nation’s strongest man, 29-year-old Simon has been catapulted onto the undercard of next Wednesday’s Main Event fight between Paul Gallen and Darcy Lussick.
Tipping the scales at a whopping 135kg, the Sydneysider is hoping to add another highlight reel knockout to the resume that has seen him win five of six fights in MMA and kickboxing.
Of his five wins, all have come within 31 seconds.
Back in April, Simon was scheduled to face Hafthor Bjornsson – the famed actor and fellow strongman who played Gregor ‘The Mountain’ Clegane in Game of Thrones.
However the heavyweight tore his right bicep off the bone while sparring against Gallen in preparation for the bout.
The injury represented his second bicep tear since 2019, when the Sydneysider suffered his first MMA loss.
Despite being focused on cracking a UFC debut in 2022, the regular sparring partner for the likes of Gallen and Tai Tuivasa has taken the bout in a bid to stay busy.
He will face Campbelltown southpaw Hector Tapueluelu.
Certainly there is no doubting the power of a fighter who, dubbed Godly Strong, won the 2017 Australia’s Strongest Man title with a 435kg squat, 400kg deadlift and 260kg bench press.
“This fight is all about getting active again,” said the heavyweight who has been struggling to find MMA opponents locally. “I was sparring Gal in April and tore my left bicep off the bone
“It was the last round. I threw a shot and – bang – it went.
“So that was it. The fight (with Mountain) was off and I spent eight months recovering.
“But I’m now really hopeful that this fight is the start of my run.”
* * * * *
Justis Huni has started working with Manny Pacquiao’s former trainer Justin Fortune in Los Angeles as he gears up for a massive 2022 campaign.
The Australian heavyweight champion has chosen to get tutelage from Fortune in order to improve his power as he realigns his style from the amateur ranks.
Huni and his father Rocki flew to Los Angeles last week. Rocki has been Huni’s primary trainer but they are keen to use Fortune’s expertise on maximising power from all his punches, just as Pacquiao did to win world titles in eight different divisions.
Fortune and legendary trainer Freddie Roach worked hand-in-hand during Pacquiao’s phenomenal career, and Huni is also expected to spend time with Roach in coming weeks.
Huni (5-0, 4KO) fights undefeated prospect Joe Goodall (7-0-1, 6KO) in Brisbane on February 4, and then plans to fight New Zealand’s Kiki Toa Leutele on March 23, as the co-feature on the planned IBF cruiserweight title fight between Australia’s Jai Opetaia and defending champion Mairis Briedis.
But the mooted May showdown between Huni and Junior Fa looks to have fallen over, with Huni’s promoter Dean Lonergan and Fa’s manager Mark Keddell arguing over fight dates and money.
Lonergan said Fa’s camp had made too many demands, including putting Leutele on the undercard, and it would cost $630,000 to stage the fight and pay everyone.
Keddell said Lonergan keeps changing the date of the fight and believes he wants to replace Fa with Lucas Browne for the May fight.
Either way, Huni will be a busy man next year, with Lonergan holding firm on his plan to have the 22-year-old fight seven times.
While that may seem excessive, Lonergan has studied the early careers of Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and George Foreman, who had similarly busy schedules in their first two years as professionals.
*****
George Kambosos Jr’s promoter Lou Di Bella was admitted to the emergency ward after being hospitalised with Covid this week, but that didn’t stop the workaholic confirming to Fight Club that the new lightweight champion would fight a top opponent in Australia.
Speculation had swirled that Aussie rivals Brock Jarvis or Jacob Ng could be used as tune-up fights for Kambosos before he takes on one of the big four in the division; Vasiliy Lomachenko, Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis or Ryan Garcia.
“George wants to fight a big fight next, those are the marching orders from The Emperor,” Di Bella said. “So we’re going to put a deal together, the next fight will be in Australia and he doesn’t want to fight anything but a big fight, and we’re weighing up the options.”
Kambosos Jr made clear upon return to Sydney last week that any Australian rival who hopes to get a shot at his belts will need to emulate his feats by defeating big names overseas.
*****
UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski is preparing to defend his title in a UFC 272 blockbuster, most likely against Max Holloway, in what now shapes as the biggest month in Australian MMA history.
Fight Club can confirm UFC executives have told Volkanovski to start preparing for a headliner in the United States next March – and only weeks after fellow Sydneysider Robert Whittaker fights for the middleweight title.
While Volkanovski’s team insists no opponent has been discussed, the short-priced favourite is Holloway, who the Wollongong native upset for the title in 2019 then defended against in 2020, via split decision.
Should the headliner go ahead, Australia could have two champions within the space of a month given Whittaker gets his own hyped rematch with middleweight king Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 in Houston, Texas on February 13 (AEST).
Speaking with this column on Tuesday, Volkanovski’s manager Lube Markovski confirmed the champ had begun making preliminary preparations for a March showdown but stressed no opponent had been named.
Given the timing, that date would coincide with UFC 272, which is slated for Las Vegas on March 6 (AEST).
“We’ve been told to get ready to come to the States next March,” Markovski said.
“Who we’re fighting though, no idea. But the UFC have told us to start getting ready for March, which is the date that has always been in the back of our minds anyway.
“And if you were a betting man, you would have to think the opponent is Max.”
While it is rare for any fighter to get three title shots against the same opponent, Holloway looms as the obvious choice to be Volkanovski’s next challenger.
Since the pair last met, the Hawaiian has secured consecutive wins, including his most recent Fight of the Year contender against Yair Rodriguez.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, has defended once against Brian Ortega in September, earning an incredible decision win after twice escaping from what seemed to be finishing submissions.
All of which now sees Holloway remain as the No.1 contender in official UFC rankings, followed by Ortega, Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung, aka The Korean Zombie.
Importantly, UFC president Dana White has also suggested a trilogy fight makes the most sense, with plenty of fans – and analysts — believing Holloway should have seen his hand raised in their rematch.
“It’s one of those things,” White said about Holloway getting a third shot after the Rodriguez win. “This is a guy Volkanovski is going to have to just get him out of the way and do it again.”
*****
Jake Paul is the latest celebrity to join the George Kambosos Jr fan club, describing Australia’s new lightweight world champion as a “superstar”.
While he may be one of the most polarising figures in boxing, 24-year-old Paul insists he and Kambosos Jr have struck up a friendship after being introduced by their agents.
Only recently, footage emerged of Paul facetiming with the Sydneysider after he stunningly upset Teófimo López to claim the WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring Magazine lightweight titles.
The Youtuber-turned-boxer looks to keep his own undefeated record alive this Sunday when he rematches former UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley.
Speaking with this column over the weekend, Paul said UFC president Dana White will have no choice but to collaborate with him on a boxing blockbuster in 2022, starting with his “starching” of welterweight king Kamaru Usman.
While the Cleveland native has offered Woodley a $500,000 bonus to win via KO, he insists it will be his own knockout performance that springboards him toward a hit list of UFC superstars including Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, even UFC welterweight champ Usman.
Elsewhere, Paul is also developing a strong relationship with Australian fighters and has Brisbane’s undefeated junior welterweight Liam Paro on the undercard of his Sunday headliner.
Paro, 25, faces world-ranked Puerto Rican Yomar Alamo, who is also without a loss in 21 fights. Asked if Paul and Kambosos were mates, the American said: “I guess we are now.
“I show a lot of support on social media and thought he fought an amazing fight. The kid is a superstar, man. He’s wise, humble … our managers know each other and my coach also knows his manager so we just decided to set up a Facetime call.
“He’s a super nice guy, down to earth. He’s got a new fan in me.”
Told there seemed to be plenty of mutual respect in the conversation, Paul continued: “A hundred per cent. Real recognises real.
“What he’s doing for this sport is awesome. And vice versa.”
*****
Tai Tuivasa’s legend continues to grow Stateside, with stories now emerging of the Mt Druitt heavyweight celebrating his UFC 269 victory by doing shoeys with president Dana White.
Tuivasa confirmed his status as the man with Australia’s heaviest hands when he kayoed Brazilian rival Augusto Sakai in the second round of their Las Vegas clash last Sunday.
Afterwards, the fighter who has now secured four straight UFC knockouts then leapt all of his 120kg atop the cage where he was promptly tossed a shoe, and then a can of beer for his now signature ‘Shoey’ celebrations.
This column understands that after the Sydneysider went backstage, he was invited into a private room in the bowels of T-Mobile Arena where UFC boss White watches the undercard.
Then … well, he did a couple more shoeys.
Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to confirm if White also had a crack or if the man worth US$500 million offered up his loafers in tribute.
*****
Israel Adesanya may have dubbed the announcement a lie, but UFC officials remain adamant he will be rematching Australia’s Robert Whittaker for the UFC middleweight title in February next year.
Over the weekend, it was finally announced that Adesanya-Whittaker II will headline UFC 271 in Houston Texas on February 13 (AEST).
When the bout was released on Twitter however, Adesanya responded with a blue cap emoji – which is apparently how people born sometime after the 1970s suggest something is not factually correct.
While the dig prompted a fiery public response from UFC president Dana White – “Twenty f…ing years, have we ever lied about making a fight?” – behind the scenes all plans are continuing as expected.
Privately, there have been suggestions the ‘blue cap’ emoji is simply the opening shot in what will be 10 weeks of fight hype and mind games from the champ, who Whittaker concedes got into his head prior to their first outing.
Certainly though, there has seemingly been no change to preparations at UFC HQ, with officials reaching out to Team Whittaker this week to begin making final Visa and flight arrangements for the bout, which will see Australia’s first champ look to regain the gold strap he lost in 2019.
*****
Heavyweight boxing prospect Jackson Murray (2-0, 2KO) has not only been sparring Paul Gallen for his December 21 bout against David Tuliloa, but another former NRL player — Jacob Loko.
Loko played 23 games for Parramatta Eels between 2011-14, then signed with the Bulldogs but never played another first grade match after being caught with escasty pills at The Star.
After a couple of seasons in park footy, Loko has turned to boxing and is fighting in the amateurs.
Ironically, Murray’s fight against Tuliloa is at The Star, on the undercard of Andrew Moloney’s bout against Froilan Saludar for the WBO Oriental super-flyweight title, in a show to be televised live on Fox Sports.
******
Warrior Bruno Tarimo spent time wandering football cathedral Old Trafford this week, ahead of his major fight against British star Zelfa Barrett in Manchester this weekend.
Australia’s Tarimo (26-2-2, 5KO) comes in as the underdog against Barrett (26-1, 16KO) on the undercard of Joseph Parker’s heavyweight rematch against Derek Chisora.
Tanzanian-born Tarimo is managed by Tony Tolj – who has guided world-rated brothers Andrew and Jason Moloney. Should he win, Tarimo will be catapulted in the junior lightweight rankings towards a title shot.
*****
Isaac Hardman has climbed to No.8 in the IBF middleweight rankings following his stoppage victory over Adam Stowe last weekend.
Hardman’s bitter rival Michael Zerafa is rated No.9 by the WBA, and the two Aussies will square off next April in Melbourne.
The winner will be aiming to get a fight against Japan’s WBA champion Ryota Murata, who was supposed to fight IBF champion Gennady Golovkin this month before Covid cancelled the bout.
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