A footy enforcer and a mixed martial arts beast will set the scene before the prince of Aussie boxing and his Kiwi challenger square off tonight at a wet and wild Bankwest Stadium.
Former NRL star Paul Gallen, 39, and MMA legend Mark Hunt, 46, will headline the undercard at Sydney’s Super Fight before the main event between Tim Tszyu, 26, and Bowyn Morgan, 31.
Thousands of fans have already poured into western Sydney’s Bankwest Stadium for what is shaping as an explosive night of boxing despite wet weather threatening to delay proceedings.
A host of well known identities are ringside, including Richmond Tigers AFL superstar Dustin Martin and NRL Dally M medallist Jack Wighton.
Hundreds of thousands of boxing fans have packed out pubs across Australia in anticipation of one of the biggest heavyweight showdowns of the year.
Canberra Raiders NRL star Jack Wighton (left) chats with AFL superstar Dustin Martin (right) ringside at the Sydney Super Fight at Bankwest Stadium on Wednesday night
Millions more will be tuning in at home with Fox Sports predicting it will eclipse the Anthony Mundine v Danny Green 2006 battle for all-time pay-per-view buys.
The big men with even bigger mouths will be the biggest drawcard of the night when the man dubbed one of the grubbiest in the NRL faces the Super Samoan.
The heavyweight contest will last six rounds bout could be spoken about for years if it lives up to its hype.
Gallen played 18 seasons at the Cronulla Sharks before pulling on the gloves for 10 fights with nine wins.
The rugby league hardman is hoping to cement his place in the ring when he faces one of the biggest names in Australian combat sports.
‘He should have stayed in retirement. He won’t come out of it after this,’ he said earlier this week.
The Sydney Super Fight undercard is already underway. Pictured are Luke Jackson (left) and Tyson Lantry in action
Hunt last boxed professional 20 years ago before embarking on a destructive career in the MMA where he recorded 13 wins from 29 fights.
The knockout king said his opponent, who last sparred against AFL star Barry Hall, was now out of his depth after
‘I’ll put your a**e to sleep, that’s what’s going to happen. This is not footy,’ he said earlier this week.
‘I’m going to fix you, man. I’m going to fix you good.’
Hunt is the raging favourite at $1.65 for a win and $2 for a KO/TKO with Sportsbet while Gallen has shortened the odds to $2.20.
The pair have been trading insults all week and almost came to blows at Tuesday weigh in when Hunt shoved Gallen as he was stepping off the scales.
‘It surprised me,’ Gallen said with a smile on his face.
‘He’s trying to intimidate me… but I’m prepared to go six rounds.’
Things turned ugly ahead of Wednesday night’s highly anticipated boxing bout between NRL legend Paul Gallen (pictured left) and former UFC contender Mark Hunt (pictured right)
A pre-fight press conference scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled following the pair’s fiery encounter on Tuesday.
‘Both parties had agreed to do media on Wednesday, in the build-up to the fight on Wednesday night, it’s now all canned, it’s all off,’ promoter Matt Rose told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Neither will do it, they’re both refusing, and we can’t risk having them in the same spot now.
‘Obviously they’re now at the point of, someone’s getting knocked out.’
Tszyu said the Gallen v Hunt bout could go either way but tipped a major upset was on the cards.
‘Mark Hunt’s got the big punch, the combat sports background while Paul Gallen is a workhorse,’ he told fans in a promotional TAB video.
‘He’s a machine who doesn’t stop and he’ll be coming non-stop.
‘My money’s on Gallen due to the fact if he can survive the early onslaught of Mark Hunt, I think he’s got it in the bag. If he’s not able to survive it, it’s Mark Hunt.’
Hunt will pocket about $500,000, while Gallen will receive about $400,000, which has left the former Cronulla Sharks enforcer fuming.
The pair have been trading insults all week leading up to the heavyweight showdown at Sydney’s Bankwest Stadium
‘Mark’s getting paid a s***load more than me, which does annoy me,’ Gallen said earlier this week.
‘Nobody wants to fight Mark, here I am stepping out against him, and as I said at the start this fight says more about me than him.
‘I should be getting the lion’s share, but I’m pretty sure I’m not.’
Tszyu, the son of Australian boxing royalty Kostya Tszyu, will be defending his WBO Global and IBF Australasian super welterweight titles he snatched from Jeff Horn.
‘I want to drown him,’ Tszyu warned his challenger while adding ‘this could be a fight where I don’t get hit once’.
If he wins he would be in line for a shot at the WBO super welterweight belt if current champion Patrick Teixeira and Brian Castano can’t make their January 6 fight.
Morgan will be taking a giant step up in class and is resigned to the fact he will have to land a knockout blow to claim victory.
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