Barry Hall vs Paul Gallen boxing guide: Australia ready for Code War showdown

Sam Newman has offered up a tip to punters ahead of tonight’s Code War, taking a cheeky jab at Barry Ball the AFL star won’t appreciate.

Ready to rumble.

Paul Gallen has revealed he has nothing less than rugby league’s tough-man reputation on his shoulders when he steps into the ring against Barry Hall for their highly anticipated Code War showdown on Friday night in Melbourne.

Hall will do his best to win bragging rights for the AFL brigade and former Footy Show personality and Channel 9 star Sam Newman thinks Big Bad Barry is a decent shot at knocking Gallen out — a prediction made firmly with tongue in cheek as he referenced Hall’s infamous king hit on ex-West Coast player Brent Staker.

Off to Margaret’s stadium tonight for the Hall/Gallen stoush. If you’re looking for the form guide, look no further than Brent Staker. Brent thinks Baz is a certainty. 🥊🥊🚑🚑

— Sam Newman (@Origsmartassam) November 15, 2019

Hall likely won’t appreciate Newman’s sledge after bristling at a question about Staker earlier in the week. Midway through a press conference one person from the media pack piped up to ask Gallen: “Paul, we know Barry’s been involved in one of the most infamous king hits in AFL footy. How do you think he’ll go this time when his opponent has the opportunity to fight back?”

A clearly irritated Hall stared down the interviewer and said: “Really good question, thanks for bringing that up.”

Hall was then seen mouthing the words “f*** me” as he whispered something under his breath and shook his head.

TEXT MESSAGE REVEALS CODE WAR ENORMITY

Gallen says a text message from long-time sparring partner and Raiders coach Ricky Stuart made him appreciate the deeply ingrained battle lines drawn between AFL and NRL — and how vital it is for his former code that he emerge victorious against the former Sydney Swans premiership captain.

Gallen said after his weigh in on Thursday that close friend and long-running antagonist Stuart sent him a message this week which made it clear to him that he can’t fail to put Hall down for the sake of his code.

“I even got a message from my old mate Ricky Stuart the other day, Gallen told SEN Radio.

“He said in some colourful language basically, ‘Don’t stuff it up because you’ve got the NRL on your shoulders’.

“So I’ve got to make sure I get in there and get the job done.”

He said seeing Queenslanders publicly attack Hall for suggesting even NRL supporters north of the Tweed will be cheering for the AFL legend also made him realise the enormity of their showdown.

Paul Gallen weighed in just 0.4kg lighter than Barry Hall.

“I heard Barry say the other day he’s had support in NRL world as well in Queensland and I saw about a hundred Queenslanders jumped on and said, ‘No, you don’t’. So for Queenslanders to be supporting me, it shows the support I have,” Gallen said.

Hall and Gallen have both declared they won’t be catching up for a beer after the fight.

The two fighters have traded verbal barbs all week in the lead up to the Friday night showdown at Margaret Court Arena — and the attacks have become too personal for the pair to salvage a friendship.

Hall says his hatred of Gallen is “real”.

“The way he’s been conducting himself is slightly arrogant and I don’t know if the NRL community would be happy with that.

“Not having a beer with him wouldn’t keep me up at night.”

Gallen also said their relationship has deteriorated into “genuine hatred”.

“We genuinely don’t like each other and, to be honest, I can’t see us having a beer as it’s gone past the point of us having any kind of friendship after it,” he said.

“I’m in there to hurt him and he’s there to hurt me.”

WHEN IS THE FIGHT AND HOW CAN I WATCH?

The fight is on Friday, November 15, and is expected to kick off at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena at 7pm (AEDT).

The Hall-Gallen fight is the co-main event and will be the second final fight of the night before Aussie Andrew Moloney steps into the ring against Elton Dharry where they will fight for the WBA interim Super Flyweight World Title.

Hall and Gallen are not expected to step into the ring until at least 9pm (AEDT).

The showdown will be held over six two-minute rounds.

The bout is being streamed live on Foxtel’s Main Event pay-per-view, with the card costing $49.95.

For those wanting to attend the fight, tickets are still available through Ticketek, starting from $49 for a seat in the upper tier.

BARRY HALL FIGHT RECORD

Barry Hall says he’s come off the couch for the fight.

Barry Hall has not stepped into the ring for a boxing fight since he was 15-years-old. He was a 15-0 amateur fighter

The former teenage boxing prodigy is making his professional debut when he fights against Gallen — and will be fighting for the first time in 27 years.

PAUL GALLEN FIGHT RECORD

Paul Gallen is undefeated with a 9-0 record in boxing. Five of his wins have come via knockouts.

His most recent fight was a stoppage of former NRL player John Hopoate in February. The Hall fight will be Gallen’s first fight since his retirement from the NRL at the end of the 2019 NRL season.

WHO ARE THEY?

The bout will see AFL hardman and Premiership Captain Barry Hall stepping into the ring against one of the NRL’s toughest, former State of Origin and Cronulla Sharks captain Paul Gallen in the first Code War.

Gallen is undefeated after nine fights in the UK, and while Hall is yet to fight professionally — with the bout against Gallen marking his debut — cruiserweight fighter Daniel Russell told The Courier-Mail that Hall can beat Gallen with his left jab alone.

“He’s a tremendous athlete and he fights like an experienced pro,” Russell said.

“I was really surprised with his sharpness and his movement. He is a natural talent and I think people will be shocked at how well he performs.”

THE ODDS

Paul Gallen is the favourite with bookmaker BetEasy.

Paul Gallen $1.62

Draw $19

Barry Hall $2.35

TALE OF THE TAPE

Age: Gallen 38 — Hall 42

Height: Gallen 180cm — Hall 194cm

Record: Gallen 9-0 — Hall 0-0

THE FIGHT CARD

Super Flyweight boxers Andrew Moloney will become Australia’s only current world champion if he wins.

Andrew Moloney (NSW) (20-0-0) vs Elton Dharry (NY, USA) (24-5-1): WBA interim Super Flyweight World Title, 12 rounds x 3 minutes

Barry Hall (NSW) (Debut) vs Paul Gallen (NSW) (9-0-0): 6 rounds x 2 minutes

Jason Moloney (NSW) ( 16-6-3) vs Dixon Flores (Nicaragua) (16-6-0): WBA Oceania Bantamweight Title, 10 rounds x 3 minutes

Tej Singh (WA) (15-4-0) vs Victor Nagbe (VIC) (2-0-0): ANBF Middleweight Title, 10 rounds x 3 minutes

Jesse White (VIC) (5-0-0) vs Paul Gould (WA) (3-6-0): 6 rounds x 3 minutes

Nick Midgley (NSW) (5-1-0) vs Isaac Slade (NSW) (2-5-5): 4 rounds x 3 minutes