Paul Gallen Knocked Out in the First Round by Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Who Now Wants Tommy Fury
Nelson Asofa-Solomona knocked out Paul Gallen in the first round of their heavyweight fight in Sydney on Friday night, then jumped out of the ring to confront a spectator who he says made a racist gesture at him.
Fox Sports timed the finish at 116 seconds. Gallen is 45. Asofa-Solomona is 30 and weighed in 33 kilograms heavier.
How the fight ended
The two former NRL forwards traded punches through most of a two-minute first round at the TikTok Entertainment Centre. In the last 30 seconds Asofa-Solomona trapped Gallen on the ropes with a straight right and a run of uppercuts, and the referee stopped it as Gallen went down.
Gallen stayed on the canvas for several minutes while medical staff treated him. He got back to his feet, and the Sydney Morning Herald reported he was taken to hospital shortly afterwards.
The crowd incident
While Gallen was being treated, Asofa-Solomona climbed the ropes, then left the ring and went at a fan. Video showed him shaping to throw a punch and pulling it at the last moment. His team later told him he had not thrown it, Fox Sports reported.
“I looked into the crowd and someone was doing an ape gesture,” the former Melbourne Storm forward said afterwards. “It looked like someone threw something at me, and I just lost it.”
He apologised in his post-fight interview. “I acted like a bloody idiot,” he said, and later added that if he could have his time back, he would not do it again.
The end for Gallen
This was Gallen’s 20th professional fight and it looks like his last. He finishes with 16 wins, three losses and a draw, according to Fox Sports, from a career that began against Herman Ene-Purcell in February 2014, while he was still playing for Cronulla. His best nights were wins over Mark Hunt in December 2020 and former world champion Lucas Browne.
Gallen was greeted afterwards by his 13-year-old son, Kody. “I was scared, mate, to be honest, and I’m just happy to see him with Kody and his team,” said Michael Ennis, his 2016 premiership teammate at Cronulla.
Asofa-Solomona went to see Gallen in his dressing room. “It’s a real honour to jump in the ring with the crossover heavyweight king,” he said.
Why Tommy Fury
His next target is British. Asofa-Solomona called out Tommy Fury, the younger brother of Tyson, and floated a fight in Las Vegas. “He’s a big name,” he said, while admitting Fury “has no idea who I am”.
He plans to be in Cardiff next month for Anthony Joshua against Tyson Fury, Nine reported, and said he might call Tommy out again there. He also pointed out that this is his first year of boxing.
Back in rugby league, the World Cup semi-finals are this weekend. Our World Cup table has every pool result, and the Kangaroos play Samoa on Sunday with Latrell Mitchell on the bench.
