Paul Gallen has made an extraordinary claim about No Limit Boxing and Nelson Asofa-Solomona, while denying reports he is in the final stages of negotiations for a fight against the former Melbourne Storm giant.
Fox Sports reported on Tuesday that Gallen was closing in on a deal which would see him fight Asofa-Solomona in October for $1 million.
Paul Gallen on commentary duty for Nine. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
But when contacted by nine.com.au, Gallen said that was not true because No Limit was yet to offer him a lucrative enough pay day.
The former Cronulla Sharks and NSW Blues captain then made the staggering claim that No Limit bosses wanted to bail out of their three-year deal with Asofa-Solomona – and was hopeful Gallen would make that happen by stepping up and finishing him.
“I’ll tell you why they want me to come back. They want me to come back and beat him because they know he’s shit,” Gallen, who on Sunday will be running the Sydney Marathon, told nine.com.au.
“All due respect to Nelson … No Limit have realised two things. Firstly, he can’t fight, he’s not a good boxer. He’s dangerous. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very dangerous. He can punch. He’s dangerous. And most footy players they put in front of him, he’ll probably knock them out because he’s dangerous and he can punch. I’m not taking that away from him at all.
“But as far as boxing goes, he’s absolutely no chance of going anywhere, and they [No Limit] know that. That’s why they want me to come back and beat him and finish him.
“On top of that, he doesn’t sell. He’s got zero selling power at all as far as their pay-per-view sales go. They haven’t moved one single bit with him fighting. So they want me to come back and improve the pay-per-view sales and stop him fighting.”
Asofa-Solomona quit the Storm after the 2025 NRL season, with two years to run on his lucrative contract.
‘Big Nasty’, who tips the scales at 135 kilograms and is two metres tall, has since signed a three-year, nine-fight contract with No Limit.
He has fought three of those fights and won all of them. He won all three by knockout, proving far too powerful for former NRL forwards Jeremy Latimore, Jarrod Wallace and George Burgess.
But according to Gallen, No Limit isn’t sold.
“They want me to come back and finish this whole shemozzle,” he claimed.
“The last guy he fought [Burgess], he’s never had a fight in his life and was blowing up after 30 seconds. He was gone. Cooked. He fell and beat himself.
“Nelson wants to be a professional boxer now and they’re trying to bring a 45-year-old out of retirement to fight him. Like, where’s he going?
“When you’re 140kg and you land a punch, that’s gonna hurt most people. He can hurt almost everyone.
“But as far as his boxing ability goes, when he gets down to somebody and actually fights, he’s gonna be in trouble.”
Nelson Asofa-Solomona after beating George Burgess. Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Nine.com.au contacted No Limit for comment.
Gallen is open to fighting Asofa-Solomona provided his asking price is met, and will back himself to beat the big Kiwi if they do meet in the ring.
Gallen hasn’t fought since defeating cross-code superstar and bitter rival Sonny Bill Williams via a split-points decision in July last year.
The 2016 Sharks premiership captain had previously declared he was retired from professional boxing, before being enticed back into the ring by a mammoth No Limit pay day.
But when asked about talk of a soon-to-be-finalised ‘Big Nasty’ fight deal, Gallen scoffed.
“I wouldn’t say [negotiations are in the] final stages,” the ‘G-Train’ said.
“They’ve made me an offer. I met them last week. I get on with Matt [Rose], and he put a contract in front of me, but I didn’t even look at the contract. I said, ‘Mate, what’s the number?’
“It’s not something to be sneezed at, don’t get me wrong. But I said, ‘Mate, I’m not even looking at it’, and I walked away. He knows the figure I fight for. They wanna pay me, I’ll fight. Pretty simple.”
Sonny Bill Williams and Paul Gallen squaring off in July 2025. Getty Images
Asked about reports No Limit had offered him a $1 million pay day, Gallen was unequivocal.
“That’s not true,” he said.
“All the figures about me boxing are rubbish.”
While Gallen is open to fighting Asofa-Solomona, he admitted his family, including his wife Anne, still hoped he would stay out of the ring.
“That won’t change,” he said.
“My wife is pretty easygoing. It’s just when I spoke to her last week after an offer was made, she was like, ‘Ugh’.”
In the meantime, the legendary rugby league hard man will load up on carbs and zero in on the Sydney Marathon.