Just minutes after his decision loss to Kris Terzievski, Paul Gallen was asked a simple question – does he want to keep doing this anymore?
“Dunno mate, dunno. A good mate of mine Pete Mitrevski told me you don’t get old between fights, you get old between rounds – and I felt it today,” the former NRL star said.
“I felt it a couple of times during sparring, to be honest. I’ve always had this ability to take that extra step and go harder and harder, I tried to do it round 5 and 6 … I just couldn’t, to be honest.”
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Terzievski had come with a clear game plan, which he’d executed to perfection throughout the opening rounds – but Gallen said he’d always felt that he’d be able to take it away during the middle period of the fight.
“I knew the beginning would be very hard in the first four, five rounds and I just thought I’d be able to put the foot on the gas and come over the top,” he said.
“I was close, as he said he was out on his feet, I was very close. I just couldn’t get to that next level. That’s life mate, everyone gets old and whether I do it again or not, I’m not too sure. We’ll wait and see, but that could be it.”
The former Sharks captain said nothing other than his own cardio shocked him during the bout.
“There was nothing about the fight that surprised me at all, to be honest – except for the fact that I got tired. What can I do? I’m humble in victory, humble in defeat,” he said.
“It’s my job to sell the fight, that’s what I’m here to do, and promote Australian boxing, and that’s what I did.”
Gallen was miles behind on the scorecards as he gave it everything in the ninth round, and very nearly finished the fight. But a completely gassed Terzievski survived, and kept his distance in the tenth to secure the victory.
“It was a mental challenge,” Terzievski said of that final round.
“It was a challenge for myself – there were times there that I thought I was done. It was more about digging deep.
“To tell you the truth, I was rooted – I didn’t think I could dance around on my toes for that long but it’s a testament to the work I put in.”
The Victorian had shrugged off a few barbs from Gallen during the build-up, and had grown into the spotlight as the day neared.
“I could feel Kris getting more confident each day,” Gallen said.
“I actually got to the point where I thought he was getting a bit cocky, to be honest,” he joked.
“I was hoping I could catch up with him today and let him know that.”
The mood between the two was cordial – to the point where post fight media commitments were done together, sitting on a couch in Gallen’s dressing room.
And if that is the end of the run for Gallen, it’s a pretty fitting place to finish up – sitting side-by-side with another hidden gem of Australian boxing that the ex-NRL star helped promoted.