A furious Paul Gallen has labelled Nelson Asofa-Solomona \u201ca rat\u201d who can\u2019t sell shows, which is why promoter No Limit \u201cbegged me to come out of retirement\u201d as their November 6 heavyweight showdown has finally been locked in. <\/p>\n
Code Sports can confirm Gallen will step into the boxing ring for the first time in 16 months on Friday, November 6 in Sydney in a five round main event against ex-Melbourne Storm prop Asofa-Solomona. <\/p>\n
Gallen says his \u201cbody is f***ed\u201d after he ran the Sydney marathon last month, but the former Sharks and New South Wales State of Origin captain is desperate to teach \u2018Big Nasty\u2019 a lesson about respect. <\/p>\n
Gallen \u2013 who headlined numerous cards with No Limit \u2013 says he gave Asofa-Solomona valuable information about what to expect and how to navigate the move into professional boxing last year. <\/p>\n
\u201cI went in to bat for him with Matt Rose and told him a lot about No Limit and gave him all the inside info,\u201d Gallen told Code Sports. \u201cI told him to his face where I was at with boxing, and told him intimate details about No Limit and other plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him to ask about this and that. <\/p>\n
\u201cI gave it all to him. <\/p>\n
\u201cSix months later, he gets a fight with Jeremy Latimore and his name hasn\u2019t been out of my mouth since.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pissed me off. He\u2019s a rat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asofa-Solomona signed a longterm boxing deal with No Limit after leaving rugby league a year ago, winning three fights against fellow former footballers Latimore, Jarrod Wallace and George Burgess. <\/p>\n
\u2018Big Nasty\u2019 was touted as the most dangerous puncher to ever make the switch, but Gallen says that\u2019s far from the reality. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf he was doing his job, they wouldn\u2019t need me,\u201d he said. \u201cIf No Limit had a boxer in their stable that was selling shows, why would they ring me? <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s entertainment. People want to see people doing things they can\u2019t do. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf they had anyone doing that, or if Nelson was selling shows, they wouldn\u2019t need me to come back.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can\u2019t sell shows. He\u2019s had three fights and it hasn\u2019t changed their bottom line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it had, they wouldn\u2019t be begging me to come out of retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a 16-2-1 professional career, Gallen\u2019s only losses were in Australian heavyweight title bouts against Justis Huni and Kris Terzievski. <\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t fought since a split decision win over Sonny Bill Williams in July last year though, and says Asofa-Solomona has been cherry-picking opponents. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s dangerous, but he\u2019s going nowhere with it,\u201d he said. \u201cHe retired from footy and has fought three footballers with one fight between them. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow he wants to fight a 45-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can fight, he can punch, but big blokes like that have never had to take care of themselves before. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey haven\u2019t had to deal with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople know I\u2019m going to dig in, have a crack and he\u2019ll have to find something he\u2019s never had to find before.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the fight still seven weeks away, Gallen has warned Asofa-Solomona not to resort to holding and clinching to run down the clock. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing for me is if it turns into a hug-fest,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what he\u2019ll want, but you cannot hold in boxing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI saw it over and over. The ending with George Burgess was basically because Burgess was falling over because he was so unfit. <\/p>\n
\u201cSonny got away with it against me too because he was the A-side \u2013 like Nelson will be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ll box him. Everyone knows what I\u2019m like. I\u2019ll show up, I\u2019ll be there in his face for five rounds and I\u2019ll have a red hot crack.\u201d <\/p>\n
For his part, Asofa-Solomona said Gallen is living in the past. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy for him to keep living in the past, talking about blokes he beat years ago, because I don\u2019t care what he did five years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cI care about November 6. <\/p>\n
\u201cEnjoy the build up and all the memories, old boy. <\/p>\n
\u201cCome fight night, there\u2019ll be a new memory for everyone. <\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, you won\u2019t remember it though.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A furious Paul Gallen has labelled Nelson Asofa-Solomona \u201ca rat\u201d who can\u2019t sell shows, which is why promoter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":900562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[469222,469211,460788,469224,469232,400290,387735,391203,469241,469233,469240,418865,469210,376730,469213,469225,400560,381261,469217,376925,469242,447133,469219,75780,469237,64,63,469248,86507,469209,220285,404996,802,153703,84041,32140,68077,50028,5397,134,469229,469230,1913,469231,379313,9116,39598,28791,219492,380045,380017,407982,469216,376803,426838,469220,279087,211637,469218,121065,469221,67651,45755,469246,407953,47024,75778,469247,35062,43766,469238,469212,469226,469250,395101,469214,469243,2821,1861,469252,9914,381356,163920,1793,159,469223,440,384465,107257,2815,85,670,469235,442209,431031,430033,469245,347190,469236,376549,469249,469215,469244,377421,383433,377832,377104,426652,469227,469239,469228,469251,469234,32388],"class_list":["post-900561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-s-boxing-career","tag-s-only-losses","tag-16-months","tag-a-16-2-1-professional-career","tag-a-45-year-old","tag-a-boxer","tag-a-crack","tag-a-fight","tag-a-five-round-main-event","tag-a-furious-paul-gallen","tag-a-hug-fest","tag-a-lesson","tag-a-longterm-boxing-deal","tag-a-lot","tag-a-new-memory","tag-a-rat","tag-a-red-hot-crack","tag-a-return","tag-a-split-decision","tag-a-year","tag-all-the-inside-info","tag-all-the-memories","tag-another-retired-rugby-league-heavyweight","tag-asofa-solomona","tag-asofa-solomona-valuable-information","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-heavyweight-title-bouts","tag-bat","tag-big-blokes","tag-big-nasty","tag-blokes","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-retirement","tag-burgess","tag-care","tag-code-sports","tag-ed","tag-enjoy","tag-entertainment","tag-ex-melbourne-storm-prop-asofa-solomona","tag-fellow-former-footballers-latimore","tag-fight","tag-five-rounds","tag-five-years","tag-footy","tag-friday","tag-gallen","tag-george-burgess","tag-his-body","tag-his-face","tag-his-job","tag-his-long-awaited-boxing-comeback","tag-his-name","tag-his-part","tag-intimate-details","tag-jarrod-wallace","tag-jeremy-latimore","tag-july-last-year","tag-justis-huni","tag-kris-terzievski","tag-last-month","tag-last-year","tag-matt-rose","tag-my-mouth","tag-nelson","tag-nelson-asofa-solomona","tag-new-south-wales-state","tag-night","tag-no-limit","tag-november-6","tag-nrl-enforcer","tag-numerous-cards","tag-old-boy","tag-one-fight","tag-origin-captain","tag-other-plans","tag-paul-gallen","tag-people","tag-picking-opponents","tag-professional-boxing","tag-promoter-no-limit","tag-respect","tag-retirement","tag-rugby-league","tag-seven-weeks","tag-shows","tag-six-months","tag-sonny","tag-sonny-bill-williams","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-the-a-side","tag-the-biggest-thing","tag-the-boxing-ring","tag-the-clock","tag-the-ending","tag-the-fight","tag-the-first-shots","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-former-nrl-enforcer","tag-the-former-sharks","tag-the-most-dangerous-puncher","tag-the-move","tag-the-past","tag-the-reality","tag-the-switch","tag-the-sydney-marathon","tag-their-bottom-line","tag-their-november-6-heavyweight-showdown","tag-their-stable","tag-three-fights","tag-three-footballers","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900561","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=900561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}