Gallen v Hall: Paul Gallen’s trainer confident his fighter has the experience to overcome Barry Hall
From Sydney to London, Paul Gallen has used Australian champions and the same sparring partners as world title contenders for his mission to knock down Barry Hall.
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Respected boxing trainer Graham Shaw, the man behind Daniel Geale’s world title success, has some telling insight for Barry Hall.
“Paul Gallen has been sparring people that are better than Barry Hall,” Shaw said.
“He's (Gallen) going to get in the ring with Barry Hall and say, ‘this ain't so bad, my training and sparring was tougher than this’.
“He won't be overawed by Barry, no way.”
Shaw has trained and prepared Gallen for seven of his nine fights.
The Irish-born trainer, who trained Geale to multiple world titles and is also guiding rising star of the ring, Daniel Lewis, will fly with Gallen to Melbourne on Wednesday, ahead of the battle of the NRL and AFL codes at Margaret Court Arena on Friday night.
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Giving away 14cm in height to Hall, and with that, a dangerous reach disadvantage, Gallen has prepared for the former Sydney Swans star by sparring similar sized fighters here in Australia and the U.K.
“Tyson (Pedro) sparred him last Wednesday, he’s a big, tough guy,” Shaw said.
“He sparred Sonny Taylor in England. Sonny’s a big man who has been the sparring partner for world title fighters.”
Gallen has also gone toe-to-toe with NSW amateur champion Bryce Jones, who is bigger and heavier than Hall at six-foot-six and 112kg.
“He’s (Gallen) done this through his entire career,” Shaw said.
“Solomon Haumono, Tai Tuivasa, Bowie Tupou, Ben Edwards, Peter Graham, these are the top heavyweights in Australia and he (Gallen) jumps in with all of them.
“He doesn't say, ‘I don't want to get in with him, he’s too big or too good’, he just jumps in there with them.
“So he’s got the confidence going into this fight, from his past as well.
“When I mention all those names, he’s (Gallen) held his own, if not better with all of them and none of them will turn around and tell you, "I sparred Paul Gallen and bashed him.”
“They can't say that.”
Without wanting to sensationalise Hall’s lack of recent ring experience, Shaw said there is good reason the former Cronulla captain was favourite to win the fight.
“No doubt he’s (Hall) got himself in reasonably good shape, but he hasn’t had a fight for 25-30 years,” Shaw said.
“Paul Gallen has had nine professional fights and he's sparred for those fights.
“So I just think Gallen goes in more seasoned than him.
“Forget about what he (Hall) did as a kid, that's not going to help him in this fight.
“I’ve seen some promos which show his pad work, but I could get someone and within three months I could make them look like a world beater on pads.
“Put someone in front of them getting belted in the face, it's a different thing.
“We know with Paul Gallen, if someone hits him, he isn't going to turn it up. I don't know that about Barry Hall.
“They say he's a tough guy — that's good, I hope he is.”