- Paul Gallen has called on Sonny Bill Williams to make a change to their fight
- The former NRL stars are set to finally settle their differences in the ring
Paul Gallen has fired more shade at Sonny Bill Williams after Jai Opetaia claimed that their fight’s two-minute rounds were ‘soft’.
After years of tip-toeing around each other, Williams and Gallen are now set to meet in the ring on July 16.
They’ll clash over an eight-round main event contest, with each round lasting two minutes.
The fight, which will be shown live on Stan, will see the fighters bank $1million each, but one part of the bout was criticised by cruiserweight champion Opetaia last week.
‘It’s not an attack, I’m taking the piss – but two-minute rounds is soft, bro,’ the Australian told News Corp.
‘You want to put on a big-time main event, well, boxing is three-minute rounds.’
Paul Gallen (pictured) has called on Sonny Bill Williams to make a change to their much-anticipated fight
Gallen and Williams (pictured) have been tip-toeing around eachother for some time but will now meet on July 16
Cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (pictured) branded their decision to have only two-minute rounds as ‘soft’
And Gallen believes Opetaia was right.
‘I woke up this morning to the king of the cruiserweight division, Jai Opetaia, calling mine and Sonny Bill Williams’ fight ‘soft’ – well he’s one hundred per cent correct,’ Gallen said.
‘Sonny, you’re happy to tell everybody you’re a better athlete than me, that you’re a better boxer and you’re gonna give me a hiding.
‘Well, mate, let’s do it properly. Boxing is fought over three-minute rounds.’
Gallen then called for Williams to show some respect to their fight.
‘It’s a main event on a big card. Put some respect into our fight and let’s do it over three-minute rounds,’ he added.
‘I’m happy to change the contract, mate. I’m happy to go to eight threes.
‘Let’s get it done. Be a man.’
Gallen called on Williams to ‘be a man’ and make the change to their contract, adding that they needed to ‘put some respect into our fight’
Williams (left) appeared for a picture with Alexander Volkanovski (right
It came after Williams had alleged that Gallen had been acting ‘suspiciously’ over the terms of their much anticipated fight.
‘Everyone knows this fight should have happened much earlier, so let’s get it on,’ the Kiwi said.
‘He’s always acted like he wanted to fight me but whenever it was about to happen, it never did.
‘Years ago his adviser (Peter Mitrevski Jnr) agreed to a deal.
‘He took it back to Gallen, who then reneged on it. That’s a fact.
‘Finally, he’s signed the contract. July 16, see you there. There’s no backing away now.’
And it has now been revealed by The Daily Telegraph that Gallen had allegedly been frustrated by some of Williams’ demands.
It is understood that some in Williams’ camp wanted two or two-and-a-half-minute rounds.
That is understood to have stalled negotiations.
