Rugby League star Paul Gallen has told rival Sonny Bill Williams there are serious opportunities to make money in boxing as he boasted of earning $25million (£14m) in the sport.
Gallen was a divisive player during a 19-year career playing rugby before making the full-time move into boxing, where he has become a formidable challenge for fighters in Australia. He has beaten former UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt and ex-WBA regular heavyweight champion Lucas Browne, and will hang up the gloves tomorrow night after fighting Justin Hodges.
It had always been a dream fight for Australian fans of boxing and rugby to see Gallen face Williams, but that bout is now off the table after the All Blacks star was knocked out by Hunt earlier this month. His rival wouldn't even accept the bout if there was $5m, or just under £3m tabled, having declared that he is done with the sport at the age of 41.
“I’ll never fight Sonny Bill, I’ll say that right now, even if they guaranteed $5m in my bank account before the fight, because he’d make $5 million too,” Gallen told the Daily Telegraph. “He had his chance. We should have fought twice over the last couple of years. The ego and arrogance from their side is at a level that I don’t want to be involved in.
“No Limit don’t want to be involved with them, No Limit’s the biggest and best promoter in Australia and they don’t want to be involved with them? What does that say? That fight will never happen, I’m not going to talk crap about Sonny. I was asked if Sonny should fight again, yes, Sonny is 37, he’s got plenty left in him. Look what I’ve done in the last three years, grossed $25m. He could do the same, make millions. But I will not fight Sonny Bill, ever.”
Do you want to see Sonny Bill Williams fight again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Gallen and Williams have had a long-standing rivalry of sorts, but the fight never materialised. And it completely fell by the wayside, similarly to a potential Jake Paul bout, when the 2015 Rugby World Cup winner was stopped by Hunt on November 5 in an upset defeat.
But Gallen doesn't feel that he should hang up the gloves, adding: “There’s definitely plenty of money to be made. I just don’t know if Sonny wants to do it. But if I were Sonny I wouldn’t be stopping. The guy is 37. And look at what has happened with me from roughly the same age. I’ve grossed $25m over the past three years. That’s a lot of money. So $25m in three years? No, I wouldn’t be leaving if I were Sonny.”
