NRL champion and professional boxer, Paul Gallen will take on rugby league star, Darcy Lussick in a battle between the old champ vs the new.
Gallen was originally scheduled to take on Josh Aloiai, in what would be a huge fight between the two big men. Aloiai’s camp announced the star had contracted Covid last week, with a positive test marking the end of the battle, rattling Gallen in his lead up and preparation.
Enter Darcy Lussick, a relative newcomer to professional boxing who answered the call last minute, ensuring the fight will still go ahead.
Speaking to Fox Sports, the chaos left Gallen, by his own admission, “rattled” and he admitted he needed to “tune back in” to get his head right for December 22nd’s fight at Sydney’s Star Event Centre.
“It’s not ideal,” Gallen said of his change of preparation. “I’ve had two months preparation for Aloiai and Matt spoke to me two weeks before saying he’s a bit worried about the fight, doesn’t know if it’ll happen and doesn’t think he’s that keen on it like he was at the start. Obviously he’s got Covid so it’s off now.
“Aloiai has got what he needed, a few people at Manly know his name now so he got what he needed out of it. He’s done now, he’s missed his opportunity. I’ve got no interest in talking about Aloiai anymore.
“It’s been very frustrating. I’ve got to get my mind back on the job now. The last weeks I’ve done nothing but today I’ve tuned back in already.
“I am a bit [rattled] to be honest, it’s been a bit of a s*** fight the whole thing with the preparation of the other one and now he’s pulled out. I’ve just got to get on with it, it’s all good.
Lussick presents a different type of opponent having knocked out Justin Hodges in the first round of his only professional fight to date and with the bout now being shortened to three two-minute rounds, Gallen is aware of what he is in for.
“I saw him train first hand before the Justin Hodges fight and I knew he’d win, he was banging the pads real hard,” he added. “He’s a totally different prospect, a totally different character than I need to prepare for over the next three weeks.
“I’m fit and healthy so rounds won’t be an issue but Darcy is going to be an issue to avoid those big punches and throw them back.
“I don’t want to be testing my chin and how tough I am, I’m 40 now. Darcy is going to be there to try and knock my head off but I’m not going to let him do that. I’m here to win. It’s a different prospect, three two-minute rounds are going to suit him perfectly, he’ll be ready. It’s a massive occasion for him and all the pressure is on me to go out there and perform and win.”
Lussick agreed, admitting he would look to take Gallen’s head off from the first bell with his tactics being “kill or be killed” after the opportunity was presented to him while he was working on a building site.
“Opportunities like this don’t come around too often, there was no hesitation at all,” he said. “I’m doing a building apprenticeship so I missed the calls on the work site. I enjoyed my last experience and then went overseas and I didn’t know what was happening coming back so I’m going to take it with both hands.
“I know the challenge ahead of me, Paul’s a great boxer, tough. I like it like that, there’s no pressure on me. I only need to be perfect for one second and then it’s all over. I think I was paying $7 when I fought Justin, no one gave me a chance then and not many are this time.
“Anything can happen, you see that in every heavyweight fight. It was a good experience but I’ve only got one person on my mind and that’s Paul on December 22nd. I don’t think it’ll go past the first round to be honest, my mentality is kill or be killed.”