Paul Gallen boxing retirement: NRL legend planning shock return to the game

With his blockbuster boxing showdown with Sonny Bill Williams falling over, Paul Gallen is planning a return to the NRL arena.

As the sun sets on his professional sporting career, Paul Gallen has revealed his ambition to become an NRL football club manager – but has ruled out a tilt at coaching.

Gallen fights Kris Terzievski on Wednesday in Newcastle for the Australian and Australasian heavyweight titles, and having given up hope of landing a sought-after fight against rival Sonny Bill Williams in future, has already started plotting life outside the ring.

“Without a doubt this could be it, this could be my last fight,” said Gallen, an NRL premiership-winning legend with Cronulla Sharks, who has compiled a professional boxing record of 12-1-1 (7KO).

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“The Sonny fight won’t happen, I can’t do anything else to try to make it happen, that won’t happen and it’s fine, I’m not worried about it.

“I’ve got a great job in the media, and I want to be more involved in rugby league.

“I’ve kept my foot in the door at the Sharkies and I want to be more involved in rugby league, I think I can help with young guys coming through and with the clubs in general.

Paul Gallen has plans to become an NRL player manager. Picture: Brett Costello

“I haven’t really delved into that too much yet because I don’t want to be involved with anyone I played with, I’ve been out of the game for three years now, I’ll try to get back involved in another year or two.

“I want to get involved with the day-to-day running of a team or club.

“I have no ambition to be a head coach, at all, forget that.

“But some sort of assistant coach or management role, I wouldn’t mind that at all.

“I’ve had enough stress in life, I don’t need any more as an NRL head coach. It’s the constant pressure, the constant media scrutiny. I’ve had that for 20 years, I don’t need it anymore.”

Gallen, 40, took aim at Melbourne’s Terzievski (10-1-1, 8KO) on Wednesday for failing to attend a promotional media event in Sydney also featuring undercard stars Nikita Tszyu, Harry Garside and Sam Goodman.

The 32-year-old Terzievski cited personal commitments, infuriating Gallen, who labelled his rival “an embarrassment” and “a soft---”.

Paul Gallen takes on Kris Terzievski for the Australian and Australasian heavyweight titles. Picture: Rob Leeson

“It’s disappointing for boxing because these guys crave attention and crave publicity and they need it,” Gallen said.

“And there’s more media here today than I’ve seen at an NRL conference, there’s 20 to 30 media here, more than you’ll see at any NRL team today, what an opportunity that would be. Any boxer would crave that attention and love it.

“For him not to show up is really dumb, it’s disrespectful. Here’s his time to shine and he’s missed an opportunity to put himself out there.

Paul Gallen (centre) headlines a monster card alongside Nikita Tszyu (left) and Harry Garside (right). Picture: Damian Shaw

“And I can’t understand these people who say, even in rugby league, ‘Don’t say anything to the media because it might motivate the other team or opponent’, if they’re professional athletes and they need that as motivation, what are they doing there?

“In boxing, if we cuddle and kiss before a fight, or I call him a wanker or a soft---- before a fight, is he going to punch me any less harder? No way.

“I don’t know if I’m the underdog or not (Gallen is a heavy favourite among bookmakers) but I’ve watched him fight and against Django (Faiga Opelu) he got points deducted from him, then got knocked down in the fifth and never came out for the sixth round.”

Gallen KO’d as the toughest man

- Peter Badel

Step aside Paul Gallen. Jai Opetaia has claims to being the toughest athlete in Australian sport.

As if fighting with a fractured hand for five years isn’t painful enough, Opetaia has made a miraculous recovery from broken ribs to ensure his world-title bout with IBF cruiserweight kingpin Mairis Briedis will go ahead.

Having received the green light from doctors, Opetaia’s showdown with Briedis was formally announced on Wednesday, with the pair to trade blows on Saturday, July 2 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

On the same day five years earlier, Jeff Horn famously beat Manny Pacquiao at a packed Suncorp Stadium to become a world champion.

Opetaia, who had just celebrated his 22nd birthday, was among the 50,000 fans at Suncorp with stars in his eyes ... and now he has a golden chance to emulate ‘The Hornet’ and scale the world summit on Queensland soil.

Jai Opetaia has overcome two serious injuries to clinch a world-title shot. Picture Glenn Hampson

Seemingly nothing will stop the unbeaten Opetaia (21-0, 17KO). Not the busted hand he carried since his third professional fight in 2015. And certainly not a fresh injury he suffered five weeks ago, when he was sparring Australian cruiserweight rival Jason Whateley (10-0, 9KO) and copped a body shot which cracked his ribs.

Opetaia’s promoter Dean Lonergan believes few athletes in Australia’s football codes could match the toughness of the classy southpaw, who had another 17 pro fights with his left hand fractured in three places before being ordered to have surgery.

“I would suggest Jai is the toughest athlete in Australian sport,” Lonergan said of Opetaia, who has sparred NSW Origin legend-turned-boxer Gallen to help him prepare for the biggest fight of his career.

“I honestly don’t know many athletes in this country who could go through the pain barrier like Jai.

“He trained and fought for seven years with a broken hand. He initially didn’t want to get surgery, he wanted to keep fighting on with it, but I told him we needed to get his hand right if he wanted to maximise his potential in the sport.

An X-ray of Jai Opetaia's hand, after finally having surgery on the hand that's been fractured since 2015.

“Then he broke his ribs in training just a few weeks ago which delayed this fight (against Briedis).

“Jai’s ribs broke so badly they crossed over with the force of the punch and he damaged his cartilage as well.

“What Jai has done to come back to be ready for this fight is nothing short of incredible.”

Rated one of Australia’s finest pound-for-pound boxers, this is the slick and quick Opetaia’s opportunity to truly announce himself on the global stage.

IBF cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis will defend his world title against Jai Opetaia on the Gold Coast on July 2.

The 37-year-old Briedis will start as red-hot favourite and has lost just one fight in his decorated 13-year professional career, a close majority decision to undefeated Ukraine superstar Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13KO) in 2018.

But former Olympian Opetaia is confident he will shock the world.

“When I first hurt my ribs, I was shattered,” he said.

“To be honest, I don’t think Briedis wants to fight a young, hungry fighter. He knows he is in danger. I have everything to gain here. I’m not hungry. I’m starving for this.

“I was very worried (when he broke his ribs). He has done everything in his power to avoid me, but we have got the injury sorted and I have eight weeks to win a world title.

“Just get me in the ring and I will do the rest.”