“I just don’t like your head to be honest.” – Lucas Browne
“You haven’t got a lot of smart things to say, you just say stupid things.” – Paul Gallen
It’s safe to say these two men don’t like each other very much.
Taunting words from Paul Gallen and Lucas Browne began to fly as frequently as their fists soon will as the duo met face-to-face ahead of their highly-anticipated bout on April 21, live on Main Event.
The Australian heavyweight rivals have traded insult after insult over social media but were given the opportunity to share their thoughts on each other face-to-face, and neither man backed down. See the full face-off below.
Watch Paul Gallen v Lucas Browne only on Main Event on Wednesday 21 April at 7pm AEST. ORDER NOW >
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Browne revealed the real reason why he has such an issue with Gallen, despite the former NRL star counting himself as a fan of the former champion – even going to watch him on a few occasions.
“I think footballers in boxing is great, the fact that they bring attention to boxing is great as well,” Browne started in a round table hosted by Ben Damon.
“I think there is a massive discrepancy on the pay side of things and that’s the only thing I get upset with. I’ve won a world title but he can fight four two-minute rounds for over triple that. That’s what p***es me off. That’s it.”
Gallen has made no secret that money is his main objective from his post-NRL foray into boxing and despite being the less experienced of the two, is commanding far more than Browne for a fight – despite taking a pay cut to make the bout happen later this month.
“I’ve taken a significant pay cut to make this fight happen because your promoter wanted $100k, so anyone who thinks I don’t want the fight, or who thinks I’m not up for it – I’m taking less money. I’m earning good money and this is the biggest paying fight at the moment,” Gallen said.
“We asked Barry Hall and he wanted significantly more money than last time which is ridiculous because he doesn’t sell.
“We’re in footy season so none of the other footy boys can fight so there was no other option. Lucas was the biggest card for me.
“I’ll have a crack at anything if the bottom line is ‘is that the right number?’ And while it’s still not where I wanted it [this time], it’s still more than I could get anywhere else.”
The former Cronulla Shark then went on to downgrade his rival’s 2016 world title win and likened it to winning a reserve grade competition in rugby league – only celebrating it like it was the NRL grand final.
“Do you consider yourself a boxer? Like really?” Gallen asked. “Because you’re not a boxer. You’ve got power, but I don’t believe you can box. I don’t believe you can box at all.
“And you’ve won a world title – a so-called ‘world title’. Let’s nut that out. You won a world title, I’m not trying to take that away from you. WBA regular title. You weren’t the super champion.
“It’s like a bloke winning a reserve grade comp and telling everyone he won the comp. You didn’t win that, you didn’t win the super championship title, you’re not in the same league as [Tyson] Fury and people like that. Let’s not carry on like you are.”
Watch Paul Gallen v Lucas Browne only on Main Event on Wednesday 21 April at 7pm AEST. ORDER NOW >