Remember when heavyweight legend “Big” George Foreman fought five, yes, five, guys in one day? Well, Australian heavyweight Paul Gallen hasn’t gone that far, but the 41 year old former NRL player who took up boxing late, will be tackling two heavyweights, both younger than him, on Thursday of this week in Queensland.
Gallen, who is 41 years old and has a good 12-2-1(7) pro record, will face two fellow ex-NRL players in Ben Hannant, 0-1, and Justin Hodges, 5-1, with the first fight to take place at the start of the evening, with Gallen to then return to his dressing room before coming back to fight the second fight in the main event. The two fighters who will face Gallen will reportedly toss a coin to see who fights him first.
So although Gallen is not going in with elite fighters, he is taking a risk, and the 41 year old could end up having to dig in in the second fight. It all depends on how long the fights or fights last, but if a fighter is tired it doesn’t matter who he is in with, he could be in trouble.
And Gallen has been expressing concerns over the possibility of brain damage. Gallen, speaking with News Corp, said he doesn’t have long left in the sport.
“I have to get out of this before I suffer major brain damage,” Gallen said. “I have no doubt I have some damage, but hopefully I don’t cop too much. It’s funny, I’ve never thought about bran damage until the past six months. I have never considered it. But suddenly it has hit me. I look at my kids and I want to be around for a long time to be a good dad for them. We don’t you if you have CTE until you are dead, but I know a lot of people in boxing in their 40s and 50s – they are a bit slower mentally and physically and I can’t be that person with the media roles I have (Gallen is a commentator for Channel 9 in Australia).”
So, with these concerns on his mind, it begs the question, why fight two guys on the same night? Fans in Australia are anticipating a good night of action, and Gallen will not want to let them down. Maybe Gallen will go out there and make short work of both Hannant and Hodges, and go home with two quick KO’s on his record. Or maybe Gallen gets dragged into one, maybe two hard and punishing fights.
Thursday’s card should be quite interesting.