Paul Gallen full of praise for Daniel Lewis and his battle back from the boxing wilderness
Long considered one Australian boxing’s most promising amateurs, Daniel Lewis is finally making his professional debut and this ‘kid’ has plenty believing he can be something special.
Initially, Paul Gallen knew the kid only through boxing gym chatter.
“And the way everyone was taking him up,” the Cronulla skipper recalls, “I thought he must’ve been a monster.
“All these different people were saying what power he had.
“How tough he was.
“I actually said to somebody ‘this is great, I’ll be able to do some sparring against him’. And that’s when they said ‘oh, no, no, Daniel Lewis is a middleweight’.”
Long considered one Australian boxing’s most promising amateurs, Londonderry fighter Lewis is finally making his professional debut in Melbourne Satturday night after overcoming two years in the wilderness — where he battled depression, drove a quarry excavator and bulked up to 108kg.
Yet Friday night, this fella who gave Tim Tszyu the only loss of his amateur career weighed in at 76kg.
Just as Saturday, before a crowd including his parents, brother, nieces, best mates, even his nan Mary, the Sydney fighter who trains out of the same Caringbah gym as Gallen will open his professional career against Thai rival Sanong Seepongsert.
And as for how he feels to finally be here?
“During my last training session at the gym, I actually looked at my reflection in the mirror and got a bit emotional,” Lewis says. “Because I can remember even last year looking at myself and thinking ‘who the bloody hell are you?’.
“I was overweight.
“Depressed.
“I couldn’t even do two rounds on the bag. My life was shit.
“But now, I’m just so excited to be here.
“I know some people get nervous about what’s ahead, but for me the only nerves are what’s behind me. I never want to go back to that old life again.”
Indeed, driven by the desire to be a better father for his son Levi, 4 — not to mention a world champion — this fighter with Commonwealth Games and Olympic experience is now finally back where he was meant to be.
“Which is just a credit to his determination,” Gallen says.
“I remember when we first met, Daniel was still carrying some weight and looked like a bit of a nugget.
“But every week, you’d see him again and the kilos were just dropping off. It’s incredible the amount of work he’s put in to get here.”
Gallen, who is himself undefeated in nine heavyweight fights, also shares the same boxing trainer as Lewis, Graham Shaw.
“And Graham’s obviously the guy who took Daniel Geale to his world titles,” the Sharkie said. “He’s a quiet guy, never gets too excited.
“But I know he’s excited about Daniel.
“Obviously he still has a long, long way to go. But there are people who really believe Daniel Lewis can be something special.”
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