Paul Gallen has been defeated by Justis Huni in an explosive bout with the Aussie heavyweight king.
Huni left Gallen looking to retreat early in the piece with a series of shots that came over the top of GallenтАЩs guard.
Gallen was forced onto the ropes, but was able to get back into the fight when Huni dropped his pace. HuniтАЩs series of shots left Gallen тАЬhurtingтАЭ, according to Aussie legend Jeff Fenech.
тАЬGallen is in trouble,” Main Event commentator Ben Dammon said barely a minute into the contest.
Huni landed more telling shots in the second, comfortably breaching Gallen’s defence while keeping the former NRL star at arms length. Both fighters were able to land punishing body shots when trading blows in close, but the weight was firmly in Huni’s corner as Gallen slumped to his stool at the completion of each round.
Gallen was forced to eat his words after declaring he would “ruin Huni’s Olympic dream” in the lead-up to the fight.
The 39-year-old gave a pained nod when the referee approached him in the break of the second, asking him if he was ok to continue.
тАЬI want to win. IтАЩm as competitive person there is. I just wanted to finish the fight,тАЭ Gallen said after the ref called time on his punishment in the final round. “He knocked me down fair and square … I think he broke my rib in the second round.”
The former Sharks star said his trash talk was only to hype up the fight, praising the rising heavyweight and wishing him well in Japan.
тАЬWhile he knocked me down, I think the ref stopped it early,” he said. “Huni was too fast and he punched a lot harder than I expected. He was just too good, I wish him the best at the Olympics and I hope he can win a gold medal for Australia.
тАЬAll the chat before, it was just chat.тАЭ
Gallen said heтАЩs not against fighting the 22-year-old again after his trip to Tokyo.
Reports emerged revealing Gallen negotiated for an 85 per cent stake in the total fight purse, and The Courier-Mail reported Wednesday evening the 39-year-old NRL legend had almost got his way. The report reveals Gallen will take home at least $1.1 million тАФ and his purse could exceed $1.5 million if the pay per view sales exceed expectations.
Huni also walks away with at least $300,000 тАФ by far the biggest payday of his career.
The 22-year-old heavyweight champion-prospect was last month reportedly set to take home around $225,000, but the latest updates are very good news for his hip pocket.
Huni thanked Gallen for the contest and gave a sneak peek into his future after the Olympics, pledging he’d change up his style to suit the professional circuit to compete against the biggest boys in the division.
тАЬBig shoutout to Gal, an awesome competitor. Very tough and very strong,тАЭ he said. “HeтАЩs definitely built different.”
Huni admitted Gallen’s headline-grabbing insults in the lead-up to the Sydney clash made it “tricky” for him to prepare.
тАЬThe buildup was good, he definitely made it tricky with his words, but we donтАЩt let that get to us,” he said. “We come here and we do what we need to do. IтАЩll hopefully make you all proud at the Olympics and bring home the gold medal.тАЭ
Round by round updates
Round 1 тАФ Justis Huni leaves Paul Gallen looking to retreat with a series of shots that came over the top of GallenтАЩs guard. Gallen was force onto the ropes, but was able to get back into the fight when Huni dropped his pace. HuniтАЩs series of shots left Gallen тАЬhurtingтАЭ, according to Aussie legend Jeff Fenech. Main Event commentator Ben Dammon said: тАЬGallen is in troubleтАЭ.
Round 2 тАФ Both fighters land punishing body shots when trading blows in close. I quieter round, but Huni lands the more telling shots. Huni has been able to comfortably land shots while keeping Gallen at arms length.
Round 3 тАФ After a slow start to the round dominated by Huni landing body shots, Gallen comes within a shot of collapsing. Huni leaves Gallen stumbling on his feet, when he finally starts landing his right hand combinations. Sensing GallenтАЩs fatigue and grogginess, Huni presses his attack with 30 seconds left in the round and Gallen is only able to defend on the ropes. HuniтАЩs best shots came with Gallen ducking into his mid-section. Mani EventтАЩs Ben Damon says: тАЬThis fight is getting away from Paul GallenтАЭ.
Round 4 тАФ GallenтАЩs right hand sneaks through for a good shot across HuniтАЩs chin. Huni is dominating without looking for the punch to stop the fight. After watching Huni picking Gallen apart, Aussie legend Jeff Fenech says: тАЬI canтАЩt believe he isnтАЩt trying to throw moreтАЭ.
Round 5 тАФ Huni stays in his comfort zone by keeping his powerful right hand in his bag. Gallen actually lands a couple of good shots. Huni fights back with a good combination with 15 seconds left in the round. Huni has won every round.
Round 6 тАФ Justis HuniтАЩs body shot barrage begins to pay off for him with Gallen wincing and dropping his guard. In HuniтАЩs best round so far, Gallen stumbles back onto the ropes but keeps his feet after Huni lands a heavy right hand. Gallen looks out on his feet heading into Round 7.
Round 7 тАФ Blood is beginning to show on GallenтАЩs face. The round is stopped for a second time as a result of the strapping on HuniтАЩs glove falling loose. Huni continues to win the exchanges, but still isnтАЩt looking for the killer blow.
Round 8 тАФ Huni lands his best inside combination of the fight with a flurry of uppercut shots. Gallen continues to press the fight to try and get inside HuniтАЩs reach. Huni is still happy to pick his shots and is letting Gallen survive into the championship rounds.
Round 9 тАФ Justis Huni comes hard to to end Gallen in the final 30 seconds of the round. However, the incredibly tough NRL legend continues to show incredible toughness. Huni has won every fight and looks fresh, while GallenтАЩs face and torso are an ugly, blotchy red.
Round 10 тАФ The fight is stopped mid-way through the round after Huni dropped Gallen twice in the space of one minute. Gallen fell forward out of exhaustion before being dropped colled with a Huni fight that took his legs out from him. Huni wins via TKO.
GallenтАЩs tactics switch revealed
Paul Gallen is reported to have shut down the option of fighting with the heavier horse-hair gloves and it has resulted in the two fighters wearing the standard, larger padded gloves.
Main EventтАЩs Paul Kent revealed the thinking behind GallenтАЩs unusual tactics in the minutes before the fight.
тАЬItтАЩs against the common thinking,тАЭ he said.
тАЬUsually the puncher wants the horse hair because you can get more through your punch when you hit somebody. GallenтАЩs rational for that was that he was going to get more punches off Hui than he is going to throw. So he wanted that extra bit of padding in there knowing that if he kept pushing the paceтАж he can get on the inside of Huni.
тАЬItтАЩs an interesting strategy from Paul.тАЭ
Gallen vs Huni full fight card and results
Paul Gallen (11-0-1, 6 KO), vs Justis Huni (4-0, 3 KO) тАФ 10 rounds
Issac Hardman defeats Emmanuel Carlos, via TKO, Round 4
Andrei Mikhailovic defeats Alex Hanan via TKO, Round 2
Sam Goodman defeats Nort Beauchamp via TKO, Round 6
Jason Whateley defeats Victor Oganov via TKO, Round 4
Aussie legendтАЩs vicious prediction backflip
Aussie boxing icon Jeff Fenech has given a scathing assessment on Paul GallenтАЩs chances against Justis Huni.
Fenech last month said he would not be surprised if Gallen caused a boil over against Huni after seeing him blast Lucas Browne out of the ring.
However, Fenech changed his tune when speaking on Wednesday night, suggesting Gallen may not win a round in the 10-round fight. He can even see Huni stopping Gallen before the fight goes the distance.
тАЬI find it really hard to think of Paul [Gallen] even winning a round,тАЭ he said.
тАЬI donтАЩt think itтАЩll go the distance.тАЭ
тАШInsaneтАЩ Gallen theory is pure disrespect
The highly-anticipated showdown took a turn on Wednesday morning when an intriguing theory emerged about how little respect Huni is giving his opponent.
Gallen has previously bristled about HuniтАЩs decision to fight Christian Tsoye just three weeks before their battle тАФ but that may be just the tip of the iceberg for how Huni is treating Gallen as a threat.
Main EventтАЩs Ben Damon on Wednesday said there is talk around Australian boxing Huni is not even focused on building the punching power needed to score a stoppage win over Gallen and is instead focused on next monthтАЩs Tokyo Olympics where he is one of the favourites to win the gold medal in the super heavyweight class.
Huni has never won via knockout in his 4-0 professional record.
тАЬThereтАЩs a theory around the power that maybe when heтАЩs finished his Olympics campaign and he comes back as a full time professional and doesnтАЩt have to worry about the point scoring system used by the Olympics any more and maybe he starts to do whatтАЩs called sit down on his punches a little bit more and throw with a little bit more power and use his hips and his body to get the absolute maximum power into his shots and then he might become that bigger puncher,тАЭ Damon told Sky Sports Radio.
тАЬThereтАЩs a lot of risk. The fact he had a fight three weeks ago is insane.
тАЬAnd now heтАЩs looking at doing this and then getting on a flight to Tokyo.тАЭ
GallenтАЩs brutal sledge ahead of Huni showdown
Gallen has labelled Australian heavyweight champion Justis Hunt a тАЬcowardтАЭ ahead of their highly-anticipated pay-per-view bout.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the undefeated former rugby league star blasted Huni and his camp for overlooking the threat he provides.
тАЬTheyтАЩre No. 1 concern is the Olympics,тАЭ Gallen told reporters.
тАЬIтАЩm here to do everything I can to make sure you donтАЩt go to the Olympics. Whether itтАЩs break your jaw, break your face or break your arm, I donтАЩt care what it is. IтАЩm going to do everything I can to break something in you so you donтАЩt go to the Olympics.
тАЬThat dream since youтАЩve been seven years old is going to be f***ed.
тАЬI donтАЩt care what the referee does. IтАЩm going to try and ruin your dream.
тАЬAll I do is find that chink in the armour, and I expose it.
тАЬIтАЩm going to do everything I can to finish him. IтАЩm determined to hurt him.тАЭ