Thank Jake Paul and Mike Tyson for Paul Gallen’s return to the ring on Wednesday night.
Whether that thanks is in jest is entirely up to you. Either way, there’ll be a sizable audience invested in the outcome.
WATCH: Click here to order SBW vs. Gallen
It’s well known that this fight’s many, many false starts are contested history but what isn’t is what breathed new life into what was, at best, a dying ember in the remnants of the barn burner that was footy fight nights.
It was November 2024, and Gallen was watching the Paul v Tyson fight with former teammate Wade Graham.
“Obviously Tyson got beaten and I thought to myself, ‘Tomorrow, who's going to care? I thought, you know, they made good money,” he told Sporting News during one of his final training sessions.
“So I rang Stan the next day and I said, ‘Does Sonny still want to fight?’ They came back to me a couple of days later and they said yes: I said ‘Let's do it.’”
MORE: Cheapest tickets for SBW vs. Gallen
Just like that the fight which threatened to be a pub debate talking point for years to come will get its answer.
Gallen wants the money - $1 million if you’re into the fight money gossip game (I am) - and both Gallen and SBW have repeatedly dismissed suggestions legacy plays a part in the fight finally coming to fruition.
So…?
“He’s someone I want to fight,” Gallen said. “I suppose that ‘What if?’ Even at my age I thought ‘What if?’ I’ve got no doubt I can still beat him.
“I don’t want to live my life wondering. You’d rather have a result and know rather than live your life wondering.”’
The fight will do serious numbers. While we may have reached the peak of Footy Fight Fever (FFF), Gallen and SBW are two guaranteed draws that have done their part selling a fight which has rarely seemed a possibility until the Paul vs Tyson fight.
MORE: SBW lashes Gallen with doping accusations
Some have done more than others.
“At the end of the day this is a business and you’ve got to be able to sell it and he hasn’t done a hell of a lot of promotion for the fight,” Gallen claims. “I mentioned that to Stan at the start [of negotiations] and they said he understood [his responsibilities] after the Mark Hunt fight that you’ve got to sell it but he hasn’t lived up to his word and done it.”
After spending a maximum of 16 minutes in the ring together on Wednesday night, it’s hard to tell to what degree the animosity will continue on after the fight.
“At the end of the day I don't like conflict; I'm just a bloke who lives his life and does the best for his family,” Gallen told Sporting News. “I’m not going to see Sonny in the hallways of Channel Nine and try to fight him.”
What an incredible HR meeting that would have been.
Ultimately, both fighters get paid, fans gets a resolution and the most storied chapter in footy fight nights comes to a fitting conclusion.
“Once you get in that ring there are no excuses: I'm ready to go, I've prepared well and I'm just looking forward to it being over,” Gallen said.
No excuses. It ends on Wednesday night.
SBW vs. Gallen fight card and odds
Bouts and order subject to change. Odds per Sportsbet
- Sonny Bill Williams ($1.94) vs. Paul Gallen ($2.25); heavyweight
- Kris Terzievski vs. Troy Pilcher; bridgerweight
- Clay Waterman vs. Mose Auimatagi Jr.; light heavyweight
- Kane Baker vs. Johan Linde; heavyweight
- David Nyika vs. Nikolas Charalampous; cruiserweight
- Rahim Mundine vs. Joe Vatusaqata; supermiddleweight
- Alex Leapai Jr. vs. Herve Silu Mata; heavyweight