'Pull your finger out': Paul Gallen sprays SBW over fight promotion with $2m split on the line
Paul Gallen has called on fellow rugby league great Sonny Bill Williams to step up his publicity efforts for their long-awaited fight.
The pair will finally get in the ring in July - although an exact date and venue is yet to be announced - ending a decade of verbal back-and-forth that will culminate in an eight-round showdown broadcast on Stan.
It's been reported they will pocket about $1 million each in an even split of the takings.
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But Gallen - the 2016 premiership-winning Cronulla captain - is filthy, claiming he has so far done all the work to garner public interest.
He appeared on Nine's Today on Tuesday morning in Brisbane, and was asked how his preparations for the bout were going.
Paul Gallen told Sonny Bill Williams to "be a man" and "pull his finger out". Nine
"Training is pretty basic at the moment, not doing too much really," Gallen said.
"I'll probably step it up in a few weeks.
"I'm just hoping big Sonny gets out there and starts selling this fight.
"I'm doing 100 per cent of the sales at the moment, and only getting 50 per cent of the money.
"So Sonny, pull your finger out and do something please."
Gallen has been one of the best promoters of his own fights across Australian boxing over the past decade.
He has earned upwards of $25 million from the sport as a result of bringing millions of eyeballs to his events.
Gallen boasts a 15-2-1 record from his 18 professional fights and has gone toe to toe with the likes of Mark Hunt, Justis Huni, and Lucas Browne - the former world heavyweight champion who Gallen brutally knocked out in about one minute.
Paul Gallen punches Justin Hodges in 2022. Getty
Williams has won nine of his 10 professional fights but lost to mixed martial arts beast Hunt - who Gallen beat in 2020 - at his last start in November 2022.
Last week, Australia's cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia jokingly labelled the pair "soft" for agreeing to fight over two-minute rounds, rather than the customary three.
It was a point Gallen reluctantly agreed to in order to make the fight happen.
"He is 100 per cent correct," Gallen said in an Instagram video responding to Opetaia's comments.
"Sonny, you're happy to tell everyone you're a better athlete than me, a better boxer... well let's do it properly.
Sonny Bill Williams in his corner after his loss to Mark Hunt in 2022. Getty
"Put some respect into our fight and let's do three-minute rounds. I'm happy to change the contract, mate.
"Be a man."
Gallen, 43, is four years older than Williams and the latter claims he will win the fight easily if it goes the distance.
"I win because I'm a better boxer," Williams told The Sydney Morning Herald last week.
"I win because the only way he can beat me is to knock me out, and I don't think he has the power. That's the honest truth.
"I'm a better boxer, a better athlete.
"I still want to give him a good hiding. He talks too much, I'm going to smash his face."
