Paul Gallen will hear every punch, every gasp for air and every word coming from Justis Huni's corner tonight.
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The NRL great will sit ringside as part of the commentary team for Huni's Australian heavyweight title defence against Christian Tsoye [5-3-2] at Sydney's International Convention Centre.
He will be among the few inside the venue. The doors will only be opened to a select group of media and event personnel.
This fight, promoter Dean Lonergan says, is designed to show the media just how good Huni is, and just how mad Gallen [11-0-1] is to get in the ring with him on June 16.
It will be dead silent minus the words of the trainers and commentary team, and the tapping of keyboards from the journalists sitting ringside. Lonergan is considering playing some music in the background to generate some sort of atmosphere for Fox Sports' TV audience.
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A loss for Huni would be catastrophic. His title would be gone, the hype train en route to Tokyo would be derailed, and a showdown with Gallen, from which the NRL legend stands to earn something within range of $1 million, would be in serious jeopardy.
But that's not why Gallen wanted the fight called off.
"I've been trying to get it cancelled from the time they spoke about this fight but they wouldn't cancel it. Not so much because I'm worried about him getting hurt or anything like that, it's just hard for me," Gallen said.
"At the end of the day I've got to prepare myself as best as I can. While we're doing everything we can at the moment, there is still that element of doubt whether it's going to happen if something goes wrong tonight.
"To put absolutely 100 per cent into sparring and training and things like that, there's always that element of doubt in you're mind when you just can't totally commit to it. I'm looking forward to being able to totally commit to it as of training tomorrow.
"At the end of the day, to have a three-week preparation for a fight like this isn't ideal for me, but I've accepted the fight. I'll give it a red hot crack and do everything I can to win.
"The frustrating thing for me, I understand it's all about Justis because it's about promoting him before the Olympics and trying to get him a profile as I already have, but to be at my detriment or an issue for my preparation is what I'm not happy with at all.
"That's the only reason I've tried to get this fight tonight cancelled. It obviously hasn't been, it's all going ahead, and we'll be alright after that."
Gallen is coming off a first-round demolition of ex-world title holder Lucas Browne. The NRL great has been pushed to the front of the posters and will take an 85 per cent share of the purse.
On the surface that would usually be enough to suggest the Cronulla Sharks legend is the A-side leading into the toughest bout of his 11-0-1 boxing career.
But the bookmakers tell a different story, and as Lonergan puts it in this case, the real story.
"This is going to be massive for Gallen. This is the first time he has fought over 10 rounds, he is fighting for the Australian heavyweight title, and he is fighting the best heavyweight this country has ever produced," Lonergan said.
"He may be one of the best amateurs and best professionals this country has ever produced, time will tell.
"From a credibility point of view, that's the one thing Paul Gallen's fights have lacked in the past. Lucas Browne, I would have thought Lucas would have done a lot better but with a two-year break he couldn't front it. All of Gallen's other fights have been footballers and circuses.
"This is a real fight, and I've got to say he is incredibly brave to take it, but I also think there is an equal measure of stupidity in there because mate, this is the hurting game.
"I've got a 22-year-old, 6'4, 110 kilo beast who needs to be fed. That's all I'm doing, feeding Paul Gallen to him."
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