In the extremely unlikely event that Mike Tyson can be lured to Australia, Paul Gallen admits that he couldn't resist the chance to fight the boxing icon.
But the NRL great wouldn't do it purely for charity, especially given the recent footage of Tyson throwing bombs in training. Gallen would insist on getting paid if he's to enter the ring with a man who terrorised the heavyweight ranks and notched 44 brutal knockouts.
After Tyson revealed that he was training with an eye to taking exhibition fights as charity fundraisers, Aussie promoter Brian Amatruda threw out a $1 million offer for 'Iron Mike' to fight either Gallen, Barry Hall or Sonny Bill Williams.
"I know who Brian Amatruda is - he's a reputable promoter. But I haven't spoken to Brian Amatruda myself and to think that Mike Tyson's going to come to Australia and fight for $1 million I think is a bit far-fetched," Gallen, 38, told Wide World of Sports on Thursday.
"Today we talk about Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker, Anthony Joshua - Mike Tyson's still probably a bigger name than any of them.
"He would come back and be able to earn tens of millions of dollars. I reckon $1 million might be off the mark.
"I think you've got to be realistic about these things. I know we love to talk about it, the chat, and my name always gets thrown up.
"I'm fighting Sonny Bill, Barry Hall, Mark Hunt, every NRL player wants to fight ... and now Mike Tyson! I don't know where I'm going to get time to do it all, but people out there should just wait until they hear from me who I'm going to fight next and that's who I'll be fighting."
The offer was reportedly upped on Thursday to $3 million. Yet Tyson, now 53, made a fortune during his boxing career (50-6, 44 KO), in which he became the youngest heavyweight world champion in history by claiming the belt at age 20 in 1986.
For example, his 89-second comeback fight against the hapless Peter McNeeley in 1995 earned Tyson $US25 million ($39 million). Adjusted for inflation, that's $67 million in today's terms.
Tyson last fought professionally in 2005, a loss to Kevin McBride, while he fought four-round exhibitions bouts in 2006 against Corey Sanders. His last world title fight was in 2002, a KO loss to Lennox Lewis.
Based on a small snippet of Instagram footage from his new training regimen, featuring a pair of trademark left hooks that have lost little of their savagery, Tyson could put on a good show in an exhibition against the right opponent.
Gallen (9-0-1) last fought AFL great Hall in November last year, for a contentious draw that ended his winning streak. He knows that facing Tyson is a massive long shot, but admits he'd have to say yes if the price was right.
"He was a beast for so long and they say 50 is the new 40, so that might be in his favour," Gallen said.
"If he's able to get fit, and at age 50 it would be hard, but with his natural ability and power he'd probably compete with a lot of world-ranked heavyweights these days I think.
"Mike Tyson was my hero growing up; not only mine, I'm sure a lot of peoples. He was just this phenomenal beast that was 5'11'', looked like half the size of the blokes he was going in against and he'd knock them out with one punch.
"He's an idol of a lot of people and he's probably still the most famous name in boxing. I think it would be great if we could have him in Australia, but I think we have to be realistic.
"I'd be happy for a charity to be involved, but I'd be getting paid for it. You've got to remember, Mike Tyson is Mike Tyson - he hasn't got an off switch, he hasn't got an exhibition fight switch. If he gets in the ring with someone, we've all seen what he's done to people in the past and that mentality's not going to change.
"How could you not want to get in the ring with Mike Tyson, to be honest? It's like a young halfback coming up and not wanting to play against Andrew Johns.
"I'm not trying to put myself in that category ... I'm just a bloke who loves the sport [of boxing]. But as far as being a legitimate fight or a charity bout, it's not something you'd do just for charity, jump in the ring with that bloke."
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_qAaOHFtwj/?utm_source=ig_embed&Tyson's close friend and sometimes trainer Jeff Fenech told Wide World of Sports this week that potential opponents hadn't yet been named, but a veteran fighter would be most likely to get the nod.
"We've just got to get the right opponent, make them work great, make it look great, make the people enjoy it and raise as much money for the great causes as we can," Fenech said.
"Definitely so [a veteran fighter], it might not be a legend but we could get somebody younger that can work with Mike. It's an exhibition, it's not where two people are going to try to kill each other, although that's what we're used to Mike doing."
Fenech insisted that Tyson was not interested in serious professional fights, but added that he looked "awesome" in his pad work sessions; still powerful enough to KO the likes of Wilder and certainly up for exciting exhibitions.
"At 53, if he trains properly and everything goes right, I think he'll look sensational," Fenech said.
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/news/boxing-paul-gallen-mike-tyson-fight-response-to-promoter-offer/899c1109-3104-4eaa-a2e4-94c7a1f6dec6
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