Paul Gallen has blasted boxing promoter Dean Lonergan after finally locking in his fight against heavyweight sensation Justis Huni.
Gallen (11-0-1, 6 KOs) has officially signed to fight Australian champion Huni (3-0, 3 KOs) on June 16 at Sydney's International Convention Centre, over 10 rounds.
The NRL legend was incensed with Lonergan's ever-shifting plans during negotiations, plus his constant claims that Gallen would do anything for money. Lonergan's verbals have been incessant, while Huni himself has said little.
"It's like I'm fighting Dean Lonergan, seriously. It's ridiculous," Gallen told Wide World of Sports on Monday.
"This bloke (Huni) is not a kid, he's 22. He's not 18 or 19 years old. He's 22 and the currently Australian champion, he's going to have to learn to do some talking himself one day.
"Lonergan has just been ridiculous to work with to this point. His attitude that I'd basically do whatever I'm told because I'm getting paid whatever I'm getting paid ... we had an agreement from the start and the agreement was that it would be in Sydney."
The fight was first planned for July 7 at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion, then June 25; dates that could have prevented Huni from competing in the Olympics in the case of a TKO loss. It therefore became June 16. Then suddenly, Lonergan wanted the fight in Brisbane. The Gold Coast was being discussed as recently as Saturday, Gallen says, despite his unchanged insistence that he was not fighting anywhere but Sydney.
With the fight agreed, Lonergan blindsided Gallen with a promotional poster dubbing the event 'Termination Day'; depicting Huni as the Terminator who would end Gallen's boxing career. Gallen insisted that the poster be scrapped.
https://twitter.com/ben_damon/status/1391597401907949569?s=20Gallen has been happy to accommodate most demands but said that Lonergan had tried to stack everything blatantly in Huni's favour. He was unimpressed with barbs that he'd fight anywhere due to being money-hungry; after two decade of rugby league, 12 professional fights and an ongoing Channel Nine NRL role, Gallen is doing fine.
"I don't want to carry on like I'm making an excuse because I'm not. I've accepted the terms, so I'm going to move forward with it," Gallen said.
"But his (Lonergan's) whole attitude towards it was really frustrating. What he forgets, yes I say I'm a prize fighter, but I'm not doing this to scrounge a dollar together and I'm struggling for money. Money's not an issue for me, I don't need the money. I'm doing this because I want to do it and I want to challenge myself. Having a fight like this will definitely do that.
"I'm just really disappointed with his attitude that basically I'll do whatever I'm told. I'll fight at Mt Isa with Wally Lewis as the referee, was one of his quotes.
"I sat with him on Saturday and said, 'Mate, I'm not doing it. We had an agreement, the agreement was this, you've already moved the goalposts multiple times, which I've agreed to. I'm not going any more'.
"It turned out it's going to be at the Convention Centre now, tickets will go on sale next week; he hasn't organised that yet but they'll go on sale next week.
"I don't need to do this, I don't need to be fighting for money. I am a prize fighter and the only reason I'm doing it is for the money - but I'm also only having fights I want to have. I'm not going to just go and fight any Joe Blow for five bucks because I need the money. I don't; I've got money, I don't need money.
"I've done all right. I'm not desperate to do this. His whole attitude towards it was really frustrating.
"Anyway, it's done now, the agreement's done and it's round one to Gallen, I think. That can be your headline, because he's f---ing carried on and I stuck to my guns and I got it."
The one remaining issue for Gallen, touted to make about $1 million for the fight, is time.
He spent 11 weeks in training before his first-round TKO win over former WBA heavyweight world champion Lucas Browne on April 21, sparring across two months.
He will get half that time sparring, at best, for this fight. Fitness over 10 rounds isn't his worry, so much as limited sparring that will require carefully selected partners to adequately prepare for the sublimely talented Huni.
"You've got to stop sparring seven to 10 days before your fight, so basically from today, I've got a maximum four weeks to try and find opponents like Justis Huni," Gallen said.
"Fighting Lucas Browne, sparring with heavyweights, it's not too hard to find big, tall guys who can stand there and bang it out. You can find them guys.
"But this bloke is a full-on boxer. Where do I get that sparring? It's going to be hard and now I've only got four weeks' preparation. For Lucas Browne, I had 10.
"I know they're doing it on purpose, I know they're giving him every advantage that he can get. And look, he's got the Olympics coming up and he's got another fight in three weeks' time.
"Everything they're doing is for him. To a certain level, I can understand it but it also becomes a little bit unfair."
Gallen has already had one key sparring session, against Huni's first pro victim, Faiga 'Django' Opelu; who concluded that the ex-footballer packed more power than the boxing prodigy.
Curiously, Huni will fight before facing Gallen. He will defend his Australian title against Christian Tsoye on May 26 before backing up against the NRL great three weeks later, barring significant damage from the fight.
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from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/news/paul-gallen-justis-huni-boxing-fight-promoter-dean-lonergan-blasted-over-shifting-plans/ccff24a2-1040-4540-bbf7-f7430e67cc5b
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