Paul Gallen Responds to Shock Bid for Fight against Mike Tyson
In the highly unlikely case that Mike Tyson can be attracted to Australia, Paul Gallen admits the chance to fight the boxing icon could not resist. But the NRL great would not just do it for charity, especially given Tyson's recent video of throwing bombs in practice. If Paul Gallen were to enter the ring with a man who terrorized the heavyweight ranks and knocked 44 brutal knockouts, Gallen would insist on getting paid. Since Tyson announced that he was training with a view to take exhibition fights as charity fundraisers, Aussie promoter Brian Amatruda put out a $1 million bid to fight either Gallen, Barry Hall or Sonny Bill Williams for 'Iron Mike. "I know who Brian Amatruda is-he's a reputable promoter. But I haven't spoken to Brian Amatruda myself and to think that Mike Tyson's going to come to Australia and fight for $1 million I think is a bit far-fetched," Gallen, 38, told Wide World of Sports on Thursday. "Today we talk about Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker, Anthony Joshua-Mike Tyson's still probably a bigger name than any of them.” He will come back and gain tens of millions of dollars. I think it may be $1 million off the mark. "I think you've got to be realistic about these things. I know we love to talk about it, the chat, and my name always gets thrown up. "I'm fighting Sonny Bill, Barry Hall, Mark Hunt, every NRL player wants to fight ... and now Mike Tyson! I don't know where I'm going to get time to do it all, but people out there should just wait until they hear from me who I'm going to fight next and that's who I'll be fighting." The bid was officially upped to $3 million on Thursday. And Tyson, now 53, made a fortune during his boxing career (50-6, 44 KO), by winning the belt at age 20 in 1986, becoming the youngest heavyweight world champion in history. For starters, Tyson won $US25 million ($39 million) in his 89-second comeback fight against the hapless Peter McNeeley in 1995. Adjusted for inflation, that in today's terms is $67 million. Tyson last played professionally in 2005, a loss to Kevin McBride, when competing against Corey Sanders in 2006 with four-round exhibition fights. His final fight for the world title was a KO loss to Lennox Lewis in 2002. Tyson could put on a strong display in an exhibition against the right opponent, based on a small snippet of Instagram footage from his latest training program, showcasing a pair of signature left hooks that have lost none of their savagery. Last year in November, Gallen (9-0-1) fought AFL's great Hall for a tense draw that ended his winning streak. He acknowledges that Tyson faces a big long shot, but says that if the price was right, he would have to say yes. "He was a beast for so long and they say 50 is the new 40, so that might be in his favour," Gallen stated. "If he's able to get fit, and at age 50 it would be hard, but with his natural ability and power he'd probably compete with a lot of world-ranked heavyweights these days I think. "Mike Tyson was a megastar when I was growing up. He was just this phenomenal beast that was 5'11'', looked like half the size of the blokes he was going in against and he'd knock them out with one punch. "He's an idol of a lot of people and he's probably still the most famous name in boxing. I think it would be great if we could have him in Australia, but I think we have to be realistic. "I'd be happy for a charity to be involved, but I'd be getting paid for it. You've got to remember, Mike Tyson is Mike Tyson - he hasn't got an off switch, he hasn't got an exhibition fight switch. If he gets in the ring with someone, we've all seen what he's done to people in the past and that mentality's not going to change. "How could you not want to get in the ring with Mike Tyson, to be honest? It's like a young halfback coming up and not wanting to play against Andrew Johns. "I'm not trying to put myself in that category ... I'm just a bloke who loves the sport . But as far as being a legitimate fight or a charity bout, it's not something you'd do just for charity, jump in the ring with that bloke." View this post on Instagram I’m a Bad Boy for Life. Watch #BadBoysforLife now on DVD Blueray @willsmith @martinlawrence #stillthebaddestmanontheplanet A post shared by Mike Tyson (@miketyson) on May 1, 2020 at 12:07pm PDT Tyson's close friend and sometimes mentor Jeff Fenech told Wide World of Sports this week that possible opponents had not yet been identified, but the nod would most likely be a seasoned player. "We've just got to get the right opponent, make them work great, make it look great, make the people enjoy it and raise as much money for the great causes as we can," Fenech said. "Definitely so , it might not be a legend but we could get somebody younger that can work with Mike. It's an exhibition, it's not where two people are going to try to kill each other, although that's what we're used to Mike doing." Do not forget leaving your valuable comment on this piece of writing and sharing with your near and dear ones. To keep yourself up-to-date with Information Palace, put your email in the space given below and Subscribe. Furthermore, if you yearn to know about the death of Florian Schneider, view our construct, ‘Kraftwerk Co-Founder Florian Schneider Died at the Age of 73’. Read the full article
