NAS alleges racial abuse from spectator after knocking out Gallen
Updated . First published at
Paul Gallen was knocked out cold by Nelson Asofa-Solomona in the first round of the highly-anticipated NRL heavyweight boxing showdown, but the post-fight was marred in controversy after an explosive moment in the crowd.
After months of build-up, Asofa-Solomona made incredibly light work of his 45-year-old opponent, landing a brutal straight right-hand and following it up with four vicious uppercuts that left Gallen unconscious up against the ropes.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona knocks out Paul Gallen. Getty Images
The final sickening blow from Asofa-Solomona came after Gallen was already down to his knees that clearly enraged some members of the Sydney crowd.
Moments after the fight was waved off, Asofa-Solomona jumped out of the ring and into the crowd, but was escorted back into the squared circle.
It was unclear who Asofa-Solomona was attempting to get to outside the ring, but videos on social media showed him nearly taking a swing at a spectator, before seemingly pulling out at the last second before making matters worse.
There was a lengthy delay as doctors and medical staff attended to Gallen, while some of Asofa-Solomona’s team tried to calm the big man down.
“I want to apologise for what I did. I acted like a bloody idiot,” the 30-year-old said.
“I got caught up in the moment, but I shouldn’t behave like that. I’m sorry.”
Speaking to media after things calmed down, Asofa-Solomona alleged a member of the TikTok Entertainment Centre crowd made a racial gesture towards him, which led to his enraged response and barricade-hopping moment.
“I looked in the crowd and someone was doing an ape gesture,” he said.
“I stood on the ropes and it looked like someone threw something at me and I just lost it. If I could have my time back, I would because that’s not on ... but what that guy did to me in terms of gestures is not on either.
“I don’t tolerate that bullshit.”
Asofa-Solomona revealed he went to check on Gallen in the dressing rooms after the fight and said it was a “true honour” to share the ring with him.
He then called out Tommy Fury – the younger brother of heavyweight icon Tyson – for a potential clash in the future on Australian soil or in Las Vegas.
The 205cm colossus also revealed he would travel to Cardiff next month to watch the Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury event, which will also see Australia’s best boxer Jai Opetaia take on Deontay Wilder in a heavyweight clash.
In the co-main event, Callum Peters went the distance and won via unanimous decision in a 10-round slugfest against Juan Diego Ortiz.
It was the biggest test of the former Olympian’s young professional career, but he proved he’s as tough as he is skilful under the bright lights.
Elsewhere on the undercard, light-heavyweight rising star Paulo Aokuso made another huge statement, stopping Mobin Khahrazeh in the second round.
Aokuso dropped his rival with a vicious straight left hand and while Khahrazeh beat the count, his corner had no choice but to throw in the towel.
The referee initially missed the towel coming in, but the fight ended swiftly and there was thankfully no extra damage inflicted by Aokuso.
The towel’s thrown in during the Paulo Aukuso fight. Main Event
No Limit promoter George Rose then confirmed Aokuso will be fighting on the undercard for Liam Paro’s welterweight world title clash with Devin Haney in San Francisco on December 20 (AEDT), which was announced on Friday.
Ahmad Reda also booked himself a fight on a big card after defeating Jake Wyllie via majority decision in a 10-round war fuelled by plenty of bad blood.
The young Arncliffe product was told by Rose that he would be heading to the Gold Coast next month as part of the Tim Tszyu vs Erislandy Lara event.
