He\u2019s the 208cm tall Western Sydney giant with size 18 shoes and a lethal jab who has been recruited to help Paul Gallen prepare to fight Nelson Asofa-Solomona on November 6.<\/p>\n
And, before their sparring session at Doyle Boxing Club in Sylvania on Tuesday, the 20-year-old had no idea about Gallen\u2019s footy career. <\/p>\n
Meet Ibby Mohammed.<\/p>\n
The softly spoken slugger only picked up boxing a few years ago to lose weight, dropping from 173kg to around 130kg, and is a Golden Gloves champion. <\/p>\n
And according to Gallen, the boxer with Maori, Samoan and Iranian heritage throws harder shots and better combinations than Asofa-Solomona.<\/p>\n
But when asked about Gal\u2019s legendary footy career, the rising star had to admit he was clueless. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be honest, I don\u2019t know too much about him,\u201d Mohammed said after their session. \u201cAll I know is he\u2019s a really good boxer and he works hard. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe body shots were very effective, especially when he started changing levels. He has very good skill.\u201d<\/p>\n
With two-and-a-half weeks before the fight, Mohammed was drafted in to specifically help Gallen prepare for the 203cm tall \u2018Big Nasty\u2019.<\/p>\n
So crucial was Tuesday morning\u2019s sparring session, that media were locked out of the gym, and only given a glimpse of the training once they were warming down.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe throws more controlled punches (than Asofa-Solomona) and he\u2019s a very good amateur,\u201d Gallen said. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got that amateur pedigree, you throw shots well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know the basics really well. You throw them straight, quick, short and he\u2019s got that. <\/p>\n
\u201cNelson\u2019s a big guy, he\u2019s powerful and he\u2019s out there. If he lands a big shot, they\u2019re gonna hurt, but he\u2019s not going to be as skilful as (Mohammed).<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if I can evade his punches, hopefully I can evade some of Nelson\u2019s wild, big punches and not get caught. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be honest, that\u2019s what\u2019s going to decide the fight. If Nelson catches me with something big, I\u2019m in trouble. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t, I\u2019m boxing his ears off. I\u2019ll outscore him easily, it\u2019s just a matter of whether he can land that big shot.\u201d <\/p>\n
As for the young gun not knowing about his rugby league days, Gallen just laughs it off. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s had firsthand experience in that area recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s only just turned 20, so he would\u2019ve only been young when I retired,\u201d Gallen told this masthead. \u201cI can understand it. <\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s another one for ya. <\/p>\n
\u201cI took my son to watch Australia play the Kiwis the other day. He\u2019s 15, loves his footy. <\/p>\n
\u201cDale Finucane was there with Tim Brasher and Steve Menzies, but my son didn\u2019t know who they were. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a real eye-opener for me. I asked my missus, \u2018Do you know Tim Brasher?\u2019 and she said, \u2018I used to love Tim Brasher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Kody didn\u2019t know who he was!\u2019 and she couldn\u2019t believe it either. <\/p>\n
\u201cDale was a Sharks player and Steve Menzies was my first ever roommate in an Origin camp, and my 15-year-old son didn\u2019t know them.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a perfect reminder about Gallen\u2019s approach to this stage of life. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I say, just go out there, have a crack in life, rip and tear,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you succeed, the sky\u2019s the limit, but with social media and everything, people forget, we\u2019re all gonna die one day and people will forget you. <\/p>\n
\u201cWho gives a s***? Just go and have a crack and do the best and good things will come. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are we so worried about tomorrow? Why are people so worried about what might happen and about what people might say?<\/p>\n
\u201cWho gives a f***? <\/p>\n
\u201cJust live your life, do that best you can and good things will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He\u2019s the 208cm tall Western Sydney giant with size 18 shoes and a lethal jab who has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":934646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[501332,384785,501322,501329,501304,501330,501319,28339,501303,28340,391582,501323,501324,449295,387735,411271,384453,387664,501301,501317,501315,501349,501334,427531,501342,501350,501336,501308,425971,501314,75780,501327,64,63,380345,501331,802,501321,3161,190271,501344,501302,426640,28791,421429,13651,501337,439107,501312,501339,501310,8280,19370,1685,501328,501333,501325,501313,501326,501343,378061,46499,47024,75778,376628,469238,307881,2821,1861,501335,188525,501311,501306,85,61793,17410,501309,404914,501300,390808,501305,501346,501340,501299,501347,501341,501338,391239,347190,383837,489817,388338,386694,436960,404331,501316,501345,501298,501348,397700,379659,501320,7570,55647,28333,224177,501318,501307,6009,418617,139171],"class_list":["post-934645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-big-nasty-so-crucial","tag-s-approach","tag-s-footy-career","tag-s-legendary-footy-career","tag-s-sparring-session","tag-s-wild","tag-mohammed","tag-28339","tag-173kg","tag-28340","tag-a-matter","tag-a-208cm-tall-western-sydney-giant","tag-a-big-guy","tag-a-big-shot","tag-a-crack","tag-a-f","tag-a-few-years","tag-a-glimpse","tag-a-golden-gloves-champion","tag-a-lethal-jab","tag-a-perfect-reminder","tag-a-real-eye-opener","tag-a-really-good-boxer","tag-a-s","tag-a-sharks-player","tag-a-very-good-amateur","tag-all-i","tag-an-origin-camp","tag-another-one","tag-around-130kg","tag-asofa-solomona","tag-asofa-solomona-tszyu-vs-mahoney-full-fight-card","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-better-combinations","tag-big-punches","tag-boxing","tag-changing-levels","tag-dale","tag-dale-finucane","tag-doyle-boxing-club","tag-firsthand-experience","tag-gal","tag-gallen","tag-good-things","tag-harder","tag-his-ears","tag-his-footy","tag-his-punches","tag-his-rugby-league-days","tag-kody","tag-life","tag-maori","tag-media","tag-meet-ibby-mohammed","tag-meet-ibby-mohammed-the-softly-spoken-slugger","tag-more-controlled-punches","tag-my-15-year-old-son","tag-my-first-ever-roommate","tag-my-missus","tag-my-son","tag-nas","tag-nelson","tag-nelson-asofa-solomona","tag-no-idea","tag-november-6","tag-one-day","tag-paul-gallen","tag-people","tag-samoan-and-iranian-heritage","tag-shots","tag-size-18-shoes","tag-social-media-and-everything","tag-sports","tag-steve-menzies","tag-sylvania","tag-that-amateur-pedigree","tag-that-area","tag-that-big-shot","tag-the-20-year-old","tag-the-203cm-tall","tag-the-208cm-tall-western-sydney-giant","tag-the-2m-giant","tag-the-2m-tall-western-sydney","tag-the-basics","tag-the-best-and-good-things","tag-the-body-shots","tag-the-boxer","tag-the-fight","tag-the-gym","tag-the-kiwis","tag-the-limit","tag-the-other-day","tag-the-rising-star","tag-the-sky","tag-the-training","tag-the-young-gun","tag-their-session","tag-their-sparring-session","tag-this-masthead","tag-this-stage","tag-tim-brasher","tag-tomorrow","tag-trouble","tag-tuesday","tag-tuesday-morning","tag-two-and-a-half-weeks","tag-very-good-skill","tag-weight","tag-ya","tag-your-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934645","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=934645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}