{"id":413622,"date":"2026-01-15T02:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413622\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T02:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:08:13","slug":"ex-nrl-star-warns-gallen-over-asofa-solomona-fight-stay-the-hell-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413622\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-NRL star warns Gallen over Asofa-Solomona fight: \u2018Stay the hell away\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the eve of the Tim Tszyu v Michael Zerafa fight in Brisbane, Sporting News Australia caught up with former NRL cult figure George Rose, who shared strong views on ex-Storm<\/a> enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona\u2019s transition into boxing.<\/p>\n

Rose was renowned in the NRL for his burly frame as a throwback prop, but is now a prominent figure in Australian boxing as the CEO of No Limit Boxing.<\/p>\n

That unique background is why his comments on Asofa-Solomona are eye-opening, with the former Manly forward believing the former Melbourne Storm giant could be a revelation in his switch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best heavyweights are up around that 6’7 plus, so he’s built like a modern-day heavyweight boxer,\u201d Rose told Sporting News.<\/p>\n

MORE: Asofa-Solomona keen to fight Paul Gallen<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo for someone like him to come into the sport now, I think there\u2019s more opportunity for him to go on to bigger and better things,\u201d Rose added.<\/p>\n

When questioned about former NRL champion Paul Gallen, who played against Rose and carved out the most successful boxing career of any league convert, his tone was far less encouraging.<\/p>\n

As the benchmark for NRL players turned boxers, the prospect of Asofa-Solomona fighting Gallen surfaced early in the former Storm star\u2019s move to the ring, with \u2018Big Nelson\u2019 openly stating he would welcome the bout.<\/p>\n

Rose, however, was scathing in his advice to Gallen should he consider stepping back into the ring against Asofa-Solomona.<\/p>\n

\u201cNelson Asofa-Solomona is way fitter, he\u2019s way stronger, he\u2019s way more powerful, and if I was advising Gal I would say stay the hell away from it because Nelson will do damage,\u201d Rose stated emphatically.<\/p>\n

\"Justin<\/p>\n

While Gallen has not indicated any intention to return following his 2022 retirement after defeating fellow former NRL star Justin Hodges, a fight with Asofa-Solomona would be one of the biggest drawcards in Australian boxing.<\/p>\n

A payday of that magnitude is always difficult to ignore, and with Asofa-Solomona publicly expressing interest, the possibility remains as he looks to build his profile in the sport.<\/p>\n

There would likely be no bigger stage to elevate his boxing career than a bout with Gallen, making it a promoter\u2019s dream and explaining why Rose\u2019s comments have raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n

Gallen aside, Rose is adamant Asofa-Solomona can carve his own path in Australian boxing and has the potential for an extremely successful career.<\/p>\n

Given Rose\u2019s experience at the highest level of rugby league and his influence in the boxing world, it is a significant endorsement for a fighter who has only recently transitioned from the NRL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the eve of the Tim Tszyu v Michael Zerafa fight in Brisbane, Sporting News Australia caught up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-413622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}