Paul Gallen eyes fight with Comm Games silver medallist Joe Goodall

SHARKS skipper Paul Gallen says he’s ready to rumble against Brisbane’s Commonwealth Games boxing star Joe Goodall on the undercard of the Jeff Horn-Anthony Mundine fight set for Suncorp Stadium on November 30.

Phil Murphy, the largest private owner of the Brisbane Broncos, organised a phone hook-up between Gallen and Goodall after the Brisbane boxer’s first-round KO over former Australian heavyweight champ Colin Wilson at the Pullman Hotel on Saturday night.

Gallen, who is hoping to defy a shoulder injury to lead the Sharks against the Storm on Friday night in the grand final qualifier in Melbourne, said he was keen to tackle the rising fight star but would wait to see how his rugby league season ended before making a final decision.

Big-hitting super-heavyweight Goodall has been Horn’s training partner for nine years. As well as winning silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow he took bronze at last year’s world championships in Hamburg, Germany.

He is now unbeaten in four pro fights with all four victories coming in the first round. Gallen is unbeaten in eight pro fights and has beaten some good pro boxers including Toowoomba’s Herman Ene Purcell and Randall Rayment.

Goodall’s trainer Glenn Rushton says a Gallen-Goodall fight would be another big attraction on what he expects will be the biggest all-Australian fight night ever staged when Horn faces Mundine, well used to Suncorp from his days as a rugby league star for the Broncos and Dragons.

“Gallen is a tough guy,’’ Rushton said, “a big strong heavyweight with a lot of power and at No.8 in the boxrec.com ratings he’s actually two places ahead of Joe. It’s an excellent match-up which would have all of Australia interested.’’

Horn and Mundine have agreed on all contractual points for the fight which is set for a 71kg weight limit with Mundine to pay more than a $1 million in penalties if he is more than 2kg above that at the official weigh-in set for November 29.

The last remaining contractual obstacle has been agreed to with each boxer wearing their own make of gloves – Mundine to box in Mexican-made Grant gloves and Horn in the Everlast Powerlocks he has used throughout his career.

Mundine has said Horn “can fight bareknuckle if he likes, the schoolteacher is going to be taught a lesson.’