Paul Gallen must be careful what he wishes for

PAUL Gallen has a big name fighter on his radar, but perhaps he should back away slowly, before things go really bad.

Gallen knocked down in first round.

COMMENT

PAUL Gallen has been on a collision course with Sonny Bill Williams for several years.

For some it’s a dream match between two rugby league legends. In the boxing world, sadly, there are not too many fights out there that would capture the imagination like this.

Gallen placed another log on the fire overnight, fuelling talk of the showdown.

“Everyone wants to see it, I’ve said I wanted to do it,” Gallen said. “Someone make it happen.”

I’m almost certain someone will — be it Main Event pay-per-view, Duco Events or perhaps even the home of rugby league, Channel Nine.

The fight becomes even more valuable when Anthony Mundine and Danny Green quit the sport, as they are expected to following their fight in early 2017.

Paul Gallen vs Sonny Bill Williams is the next marquee match-up and has interest across the world — well at least everywhere SBW has played, which is most of it.

Sonny Bill is scary.

There have been whispers that David Gyngell made moves to lock down the pair as part of their Nine contracts to ensure that if the fight happens it only happens on that network.

Nine’s recent return to televising the sport through its “Footy Show Fight Night” series was a way to test the waters. Gyngell is gone, so it remains to be seen if the sport is still in their plans.

The only thing standing in the way of the Gallen-SBW showdown is the need for some relatively clean air away from their sporting commitments.

Gallen will get that in around 12 months’ time as 2017 is his last year of professional rugby league. Sonny Bill Williams calendar is a little fuller however.

He is currently nursing an Achilles injury, sustained at the Rio Olympics. He’s fighting to return for the new Super Rugby season and he’s committed to the Rugby 7s game, as New Zealand chase a Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold in 2018.

Gallen wants the fight, but unfortunately it’s one he won’t win. As they say in the boxing game, it’s a money fight. The Cronulla captain will earn a tidy sum for his effort, but Williams will take it with ease. In fact, it could be more one-sided as some of the recent State of Origin series.

From what we’ve seen in his five professional fights so far, Gallen looks limited in the ring. Sure he could easily knock me out, but against relatively low level calibre opposition, he has had some hiccups.

The 35-year-old was knocked down in his debut fight against Herman Ene Purcell, before climbing off the canvas to finish the Samoan. In the fights since, two have been against fellow rugby league players with less boxing experience — jailbird Anthony Watts and Bodene Thompson.

Gallen has tasted the canvas.

Splitting those victories was a fight with Randall Rayment, an MMA fighter, who had just one boxing bout on his record at the time. Gallen’s most recent bout in January was a rematch with Purcell, who had lost a further four times since the Sharks hero handled him two years earlier.

The point is, it’s hardly a stellar fighting record, and there’s an obvious reason why.

Through it all, Gallen has remained captain of the Cronulla Sharks and up to this year New South Wales. He was also a member of the Australian side.

He had been given permission to fight in the off-season, helping him remain fit, scratch the boxing itch and ultimately make some handy money on the side.

The opposition has been selected to protect those interests as much as possible. Not the first time that’s happened in the sport of boxing.

Gallen in training.

You can certainly punch some holes in the record of Sonny Bill Williams as well. His first two fights were comical, but his more recent opponents should have Gallen taking notice.

Chauncy Welliver may not have the figure of an athlete, but he has a chin made of granite. Australia’s recent heavyweight champion Lucas Browne struggled to put him away. Former heavyweight champion Alexander Ustinov couldn’t finish the job either.

Sonny Bill had similar problems, but two of the three judges had him winning every single round.

Williams claimed the WBA international heavyweight title with a 2013 victory over Frans Botha — a man who had 59 fights going in. Not to mention having shared the ring with fighters such as Wladimir Klitschko, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson.

It was somewhat controversial, but Williams got through it, having been severely tested. He won many fans that night, impressed with his ability to use his jab, fight at range and control the pace, against a crafty veteran.

Williams almost fought as many rounds in that fight as Gallen has so far in his boxing career.

Gallen fights Canberra Raiders forward Junior Paulo tonight at Sydney’s Hordern Pavillion. The Sharks forward goes in a $1.35 favourite.

There’s always stories coming out of fight camps, but Paulo has been getting some good reviews. This one isn’t a walkover for Gallen and his Sonny Bill Williams plans may just come unstuck tonight. It could also hamper his plans to fight Ryan Carr on December 23 at Shark Park.

Some in boxing say Gallen has real potential in the sport, should he commit to it fulltime at the completion of his rugby league career in 2018.

AFL star Barry Hall was a similar story, with the forward doing so upon ending his AFL career with the Western Bulldogs. But after just a few weeks of serious training, Hall gave it away. He’s recently returned to training alongside former world champion Will Tomlinson.

Hall’s return has seen speculation of a fight between him and Gallen, but the Victorian says it’s just for fun and fitness. Time will tell.

Good luck Gal!

For Gallen though, the facts remain. Sonny Bill Williams is not a good match-up. Stylistically or physically.

Sonny Bill has the height and reach advantage at 191cm. Gallen is relatively undersized as a heavyweight, at 180cm.

Yes, Mike Tyson was smaller than Gallen, standing at 178cm tall, but Iron Mike was once considered the baddest man on the planet, and a very different animal.

Gallen can punch (ask Nate Myles), is tough and has heart. I can only respect any man who steps foot inside a boxing ring and throws down.

But Paul Gallen needs to be careful what he wishes for with Sonny Bill Williams. He just may get it, and it will hurt.

Originally published as Paul Gallen must be careful what he wishes for