Paul Gallen is adamant this is it and says he cannot think of a better way to bow out of professional sport than by bashing a Queenslander into submission.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Gallen will draw the curtain on his boxing career on Wednesday night when he squares off against his former State of Origin nemesis Justin Hodges in a spicy rematch between the two retired NRL greats.
Hodges maintains he was robbed after dropping Gallen before suffering a contentious third-round TKO defeat in the pair's first stoush in September.
But Gallen is intent on silencing Hodges once and for all, pointing out that last time the two duelled, he also took on - and beat - Hodges' fellow ex-Queensland Origin star Ben Hannant on the same night.
"I want to hurt him," Gallen said at Tuesday's weigh-in in Sydney.
"He and his (Maroons) mates broke my heart a lot of times, particularly over that eight-year period (of Queensland dominance). That's definitely added motivation.
"But I get to take him out tomorrow night on his own. That will be the best thing.
"He's got no friends around him. He's got no one to help him. He hasn't got any 110kg front-rower going before him and tiring me out and slowing me down and fighting me first.
"He's only got me and that's a huge advantage for me.
"If I do what I can do and fight the fight I want to fight, he's no chance of beating me."
Hodges accepts he probably cannot go the full six two-and-a-half-minute rounds with Gallen.
"I've just got to stop him," Hodges said.
"Six rounds, I haven't gone that deep ever. So for me to win, I've got to put him away as early as possible.
"I've got nothing to lose. Everyone's expecting him to win, he's expecting to win and I know all I've got to do is land one big punch and that changes the whole outcome of the fight."
Win or lose, 41-year-old Gallen - who readily admits he is well past his physical best - will not be making any comebacks.
The sporting ironman this week claimed he has grossed $25 million in the past three years and could not be more content as he approaches his sporting swansong.
"I started this sport to make some money in the pre-seasons. It's escalated from there. I've done very well financially," Gallen said.
"So I don't need money. I'm actually taking less money for this fight than my contract says, so I've done the right thing by (promoter) No Limit (Boxing) there.
"So what's going to motivate me to come out of retirement? I don't know.
"There's no one in particular that I want to fight, and there's no big enough fight out there to make me come out of retirement."
The Gallen-Hodges heavyweight showdown will precede Michael Zerafa's middleweight bout with undefeated Italian Danilo Creati.
Australian Associated Press
