{"id":457195,"date":"2025-07-15T20:21:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T20:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=457195"},"modified":"2025-07-15T23:16:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T23:16:48","slug":"gal-is-a-dog-sparring-partner-lifts-lid-on-brutal-fight-prep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=457195","title":{"rendered":"'Gal is a dog': Sparring partner lifts lid on brutal fight prep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Gallen<\/a> believes he is ready for Sonny Bill Williams<\/a>, claiming that most of the men he has trained with in preparation for the long-awaited showdown would beat his opponent.<\/p>\n

The pair faced off at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday afternoon<\/a>, with tensions nearly boiling over as they prepare to settle their rivalry that has been building for over a decade.<\/p>\n

While \ufeffGallen recently said he was doing less sparring than he normally would in this camp, he reinforced that his sparring partners held him in good stead for the fight.<\/p>\n

Sonny Bill Willams vs Paul Gallen at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena on July 16 is available to order live and exclusive on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Pay-Per-View<\/strong><\/em><\/a> for $70<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1945020844247540081<\/a><\/p>\n

"I've sparred really well," he said at Tuesday's weigh-ins.<\/p>\n

"I've sparred with some really good guys\ufeff. I think most of the guys I've sparred with would have beaten Sonny, and I handled myself OK."<\/p>\n

His sparring partners have included \ufeffformer NRL player Curtis Scott and undercard fighters Johan Linde and Kane Baker, who will go head to head on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gallen rips 'scumbag' SBW in explosive face off<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: \ufeff<\/strong>A visit to Gallen's gym led to a surprising reveal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Why teen giant turned his back on an Origin icon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Gallen then doubled down on his statement when speaking with Wide World of Sports afterwards.<\/p>\n

"That's my opinion \ufeff- they're experienced fighters," he said.<\/p>\n

"I just think a lot of them would beat him, yeah."\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

With Williams standing around 12cm taller than Gallen, the former Blues captain opted for height with his training partners.<\/p>\n

"Sonny is \ufeff6'3 tall (191cm) while Johan is 6'6. The other guys are sort of 6'2, 6'3," Gallen said.<\/p>\n

"Obviously, the height is something we've got to get used to, and they're all good boxers with \ufeffexperience.<\/p>\n

\"SBW<\/p>\n

"I've been lucky, I've sparred pretty much everyone in Australia \ufeffwhen I was doing it properly years ago."<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Gallen believes his training h\ufeffas been optimal given his age.<\/p>\n

"Obviously, sparring and fighting are two different things, \ufeffbut I take a lot of confidence out of the sparring that I've done over the years. I've got the runs on the board there," he said.<\/p>\n

\"SBW<\/p>\n

"I'm just confident in the preparation I've had, and that's all I can bring it back to\ufeff. I can't worry about what [Sonny's] done or anything else. I can only worry about what I've done, and it's been pretty good.<\/p>\n

Ahead of their heavyweight bout on the undercard of the SBW v Gallen fight,\ufeff Baker and Linde both backed their training partner to stop Williams. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"\ufeffA big shout out to Gal," Linde said.<\/p>\n

\"Kane<\/p>\n

"If I had to pick someone, I reckon it's going to be Gal. He's going to be tough. It's been a good prep. Obviously, for me, it was somewhat of a similar demographic, with Kane at cruiserweight. So he's been good for preparation."<\/p>\n

Baker is also mates with Gallen and believes his resilience and strength will see him get the job done.<\/p>\n

He says he's sparred about 50 rounds with the former Sharks captain in recent weeks.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Gal, in the most positive way \ufeffpossible, is a dog, and I think the dog is going to win the fight come Wednesday night, 100 per cent," he said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1945015847917117598?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

"I've probably done over 50 rounds with him for this camp. He's a massive reason why I'm on [the card].<\/p>\n

"I back him 100 per cent."\ufeff<\/p>\n

With both \ufeffLinde and Baker hoping to have absorbed some of Gallen's strength and mental toughness to bring down the other, they saw eye to eye on one thing.<\/p>\n

\"Morrison<\/p>\n

"I'm looking forward to seeing Gal," Linde said.<\/p>\n

"That's the one thing we probably can agree on before Wednesday night is that we think he is going to give Sonny Bill a good run for his money.<\/p>\n

With both Williams and Gallen making weight, their next encounter will be in the ring on Wednesday night.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Gallen believes he is ready for Sonny Bill Williams, claiming that most of the men he has trained with in preparation for the long-awaited […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":454325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=457195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457204,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457195\/revisions\/457204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/454325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=457195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=457195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=457195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}