Paul Kent: Paul Gallen always understood that boxing is a business

Paul Gallen earned more as a boxer than he did over his long rugby league career because he was prepared to leave his ego at the door.

WEB gallen art for kenty column by boo bailey

It is never a good feeling when money walks out the door. That borders on the obvious, but you still had to feel for Matt Rose Wednesday night.

Some time around midnight Paul Gallen, in a T-shirt that read he had made $25 million in three years and “never spent a cent”, walked out of boxing.

The T-shirt was a jab from his team. Gallen’s fists are not only heavy, as we have learned, but notoriously tight, as most knew.

With his exit, though, the argument whether footballers-turned-fighters is good for boxing was left dead and done.

Before Gallen left Michael Zerafa found him and thanked him for including him on his card.

Zerafa became known to us through two magnificent wars with Jeff Horn and Wednesday presented as an opportunity to sell himself beyond the niche audience that is boxing when he stepped in against Danilo Creati.

Paul Gallen throws a punch at Justin Hodges during his final fight. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Sadly it was a setback.

It was a fight that didn’t rise much above a glorified exhibition and all those non-boxing types that paid to watch Gallen fight Justin Hodges along with a couple of others with NRL experience, Siua Taukeiaho and Jaiman Lowe, will need a solid arm twist to be convinced to give Zerafa another go, and it still might not be enough.

What Gallen figured out better than most was that boxing is really the entertainment business.

And the currency is blood.

His promoter Matt Rose also understands this, the first rule of promotion.

As he watched Gallen leave the stadium for his last time Rose admitted to a touch of melancholy, conceding Gallen had figured it out better than anybody.

“To be honest,” he said. “I was probably more sad that boxing loses someone that brings the complete package.

“The way he has been able to lift a fight when we needed a fight lifted, whether it was in the media or at a press conference …”

That has been Gallen’s gift to boxing.

Years back Tim Tszyu was on a Gallen undercard and at a press conference before the fight Gallen spoke of the resentment from some quarters about the footballers heading into boxing.

The feeling was they were taking all the cash.

Artwork by boo bailey

No doubt Gallen made plenty.

He pocketed the best part of $500,000 for beating Hodges on Wednesday.

He earned the same for the previous fight against Hodges, $800,000 for his fights against Kris Terzievski and Darcy Lussick, $1.5 million against Justis Huni, $400,000 against Lucas Browne and $500,000 for Mark Hunt.

That’s $5 million in folding in his final seven fights. It is no secret Gallen earned more in his 17 fights than he did his entire football career, which lasted nearly 19 seasons.

The $25 million sported on his T-shirt was the money his fights generated between the gate and pay-per-view sales.

Gallen realised he was being used as a vehicle to showcase Tszyu’s skills to a broader audience, which didn’t immediately sit comfortably.

“When I was brought in to do that, initially, I was a bit uncomfortable with it,” Gallen said.

“I remember saying when Tim was on the undercard of one of my fights that if Tim Tszyu is one day fighting on MainEvent then I have done my job for Australian boxing.

“But the most important thing about that is Tim recognised that and Tim bought into it.

“It was good knowing that somebody who has that pedigree understood it and bought into it.”

Gallen brought back something that is too often lost in boxing.

Back in the pre-television days fighters earned their wages through gate takings.

Fighters, on a percentage of the gate, saw a direct correlation between how much they earned compared with how many walked in.

And the better the fight, they realised, the more that walked in.

Then television polluted it.

Needing content, broadcasters paid to televise fights upfront and it often didn’t matter how entertaining or how much of a stinker the fight was, the cheque was already cashed.

Fighters began negotiating their purses upfront and lost the link between how much they got paid and how entertaining their fights were.

Pay television changed it again, with fans able to buy the fight and watch it at home, although too many fighters are still caught in the old mindset.

Gallen’s arrival on the card, like Barry Hall and Hodges and Ben Hannant and them all, brought fresh eyes to the sport.

But Gallen got it better than any.

Many NRL players cry for impartiality in reporting. Yet if you are not on their side, you are the enemy.

It is an immaturity across the code but Gallen always understood the game within the game. He took the good with the bad, understanding there was always a bigger purpose, so few grudges were held.

Heading in to Wednesday’s fight he and Hodges said things about each other that would make more tender souls weep.

It was personal and honest.

Yet it sold the fight and afterwards they embraced, both the richer for it, with an exit they both deserved after giving so much for so long … finishing with the crowd on its feet.

The day after the fight Gallen gave his daughter Ruby the day off school and they went for lunch together.

It was his first real day in retirement.

The family went out for dinner that night before he trained the Macedonian team ahead of this weekend’s Test against Turkey at Terry Lamb Oval.

Then yesterday morning he trained with Cronulla, grid sprints, he said, which sound horrible.

He promises to break the curse of retiring fighters and stay retired.

“I’ve always had that feeling that once it’s done it’s done,” he said, carrying it through to the end.

“I’m not too emotional about it,” he said.

(L-R) Jack Wighton, Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr of Australia celebrate with the Aboriginal flag following their side's victory in the Rugby League World Cup Final. Picture: George Wood/Getty Images

Latrell Mitchell took a mighty step towards becoming one of the game’s statesmen, where he belongs, with his comments during the week regarding the Indigenous All Stars team.

They came in response to recently appointed Indigenous All Stars coach Ron Griffiths calling for the Indigenous team to be their own separate entity at the next Rugby League World Cup.

Yes, after a season where the game was ripped from within while trying to be “inclusive” there comes calls to exclude.

It arrived as a tough one for the politically correct crowd.

How do you support minorities, such is the cause, while also supporting the end of inclusion? “You talk about dividing a country; there are other ways to look at it,” Mitchell told the SMH.

“I don’t want to comment on it too much or blow it out of proportion.”

Mitchell suggested the Indigenous team could tour at other times, playing other nations around the world.

It’s a solid idea.

Australia’s performance throughout the World Cup once again underlined the way coach Mal Meninga can bring a team together.

Meninga was always pitch perfect handling the Queensland team during their era of dominance and has transitioned that into the Kangaroos.

He picks the right team and strikes the right mood in camp.

It translates into performance.