Paul Gallen rumoured to have hid massive secret before boxing fight

Paul Gallen and the members of his team are rumoured to have kept quiet about the former NRL star’s big secret before his boxing loss.

Paul Gallen looks on after his loss. Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images.

Paul Gallen’s camp is rumoured to have known their prize fighter wasn’t the boxer he used to be before his shock loss on Wednesday night.

At the age of 40, the freakish athlete is finally showing his age.

Father time hit like a tonne of bricks on Wednesday night at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre when he was battered by Australian heavyweight champion Kris Terzievski.

Gallen thrilled the crowd with a brave fightback in the final two rounds, but the judges had no second thoughts in handing the fight to Terzievski via unanimous decision (97-92 x 3).

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The former NSW State of Origin champ has the heart of Phar Lap and the rest of his muscles had always been reliable enough to let that brave heart be his greatest weapon in the ring.

The heart was still there on Wednesday night, but the muscles that heart relies on were sadly missing.

According to rumours, Gallen’s camp knew the former NSW State of Origin captain’s muscles weren’t there some time ago.

Main Event commentator Paul Kent said before the fight there were whispers about Gallen’s physical preparation.

Paul Gallen throws a punch. Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images.

“Now with respect, Paul Gallen is nearly 41 and there’s been an admission in his camp that they haven’t made public that the hand speed is starting to go,” Kent said.

“They are concerned about that. They still think he’s got enough to win the fight tonight. But Terzievski has great hand speed.”

Gallen did enough to score an easy stoppage victory over former NRL star Darcy Lussick in December, but Aussie boxing legend Barry Michael said on Wednesday night Gallen may not have ever recovered from his TKO loss to Justis Huni last year.

Every fight takes something out of you.

Huni may have taken a big piece of Gallen — a warhorse who had almost nothing left to give to begin with.

“You have to wonder whether that beating he took from Justis Huni has took something out of him,” Michael said.

Kent summed it up by suggesting Terzievski was actually a nightmare match-up for Gallen.

“He has a couple advantages that are quite significant. One is his superior hand speed. The other is he is a southpaw,” Kent said.

“Paul Gallen has struggled historically with southpaws whenever he’s had to spar them. But this preparation he’s done nothing but spar southpaws. He’s got to a point where he feels comfortable now. But there was still a period in this training camp where he was struggling against southpaws.”

Paul Gallen was swinging right to the end. Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images.

Gallen’s speed may have deserted him, but the world was still in awe about what he was able to do even with his body starting to fail him.

For Gallen, it may be the end of the road.

“I felt a little bit tired in the middle rounds... he won fair and square,” Gallen said. “I’m always humble in victory and humble in defeat.

“There’s a saying, age is undefeated. It’s caught up with me.

“You don’t grow old between fights, you do between rounds.

“I’m not going to make any decisions now (about my future). I just felt in between those rounds I couldn’t go like I normally go.

“I’ve had a great time involved in the sport ... we’ll see what happens next.”

Gallen loses nothing in falling short of becoming the first former footballer to win a national heavyweight title.

If anything his legend has grown.

Originally published as Paul Gallen rumoured to have hid massive secret before boxing fight