Kris Terzievski preparing to make history in heavyweight bout with Paul Gallen
Kris Terzievski was planning to fight Paul Gallen long before it was offered and is confident he’s got the weapons to make history in Newcastle.
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Kris Terzievski prophesied his fight against Paul Gallen before it was actually offered.
The Craigieburn heavyweight had been planning to message the NRL champion-turned boxing star to try and set up a fight when his promoter got an offer out of the blue.
The fight was quickly accepted and the pair will create Australian boxing history in Newcastle on May 11 with the winner to be crowed Australasian and Australian heavyweight champion.
Either Terzievski (10-1-1) or Gallen (12-1-1) will combine the belts for the first time in more than 100 years.
“It was funny how it came about,” Terzievski told Leader.
“There’s a new boxing division that’s opened up, Bridgerweight, and Paul Gallen’s been ranked in that.
“We’ve got a massive card coming up in Melbourne led by George Kambosos at Marvel Stadium and I had a few friends saying I should get on that card and I was trying to figure out an angle.
“Paul’s got a lot of notoriety in the sport from his NRL profile and has done a fair bit to help Aussie boxing, so I thought I’d sent him a message.
“I was thinking about sending him a DM but then Barry Hall lost to Sonny Bill Williams and I thought ‘say goodbye to that, Gal will fight Sonny Bill’.
“Then out of nowhere my promoter got an offer to challenge Paul Gallen and I thought ‘I’ve manifested this, how’s this happened’.”
The bout is the co-main event alongside Olympic bronze medallist Harry Garside (2-0) defence of his Australian lightweight belt against Layton McFerran (5-1).
Nikita Tszyu, brother to world-ranked Tim and youngest son of Kostya, is also in action against Melbourne’s Mason Smith (5-0, 2 KO).
Terzievski claimed the Australasian heavyweight title earlier this year with a unanimous decision victory over Waikato Falefehi on March 5.
Given just five weeks to prepare for his battle against Gallen, the southpaw has been training “old-school” while also incorporating some different techniques with coach Ray Giles and trainer Jake Moller.
“We’ve also gone a bit more of an old-school approach because of the time frame, my coach Ray is old-school himself – he’s just turned 79,” Terzievski said.
“I’ve been doing heavy sparring rounds three times a week and just trying to get the Ks in my legs so I can move and dance around for the whole 10 rounds.
“I normally take eight to 10 weeks to prepare and we’ve had four-and-a-half weeks, so I’ve really had to knuckle down.
“I’ve got the strength and conditioning that I do with Jake at Mace Fitness, he’s got a very different approach.
“We work on the nervous system, hand-eye reflexes and a lot of plyometric stuff.”
The 32-year-old is confident his speed and footwork, combined with a heavier punch, can trouble 40-year-old Gallen.
“For me, my best assets would be my speed, my footwork and a bit of ring IQ,” he said.
“Being a south paw as well is always a trickier style to come up against, a quick south paw that uses hand speed and movement that’s probably my biggest asset.
“He’s a really tough, fit, dedicated individual, you can tell with his NRL background that he’s a consummate professional.
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“His strength is his aggression, come-forward style with a high work-rate, that’s what I’m preparing for.
“With Gal it’s what you see is what you get, he’s going to come forward, try and bully you and take your head off.
“My strategy is when the G-Train is coming to get off the tracks, create angles and try and exploit that aggression.”
Gallen’s last fight was against fellow former rugby league forward Darcy Lussick on December 22 last year, a strong rebound after losing a heavyweight title bout to Justis Huni.
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