Minutes after losing his decision to Chris Terzivsky, Paul Galen was asked a simple question – does he want to do it again?
“I don’t know, mate, I don’t know. A good friend of mine, Pete Mitrevsky, told me you don’t grow old in a fight, you grow old in a round – and I feel that way today,” said the former NRL star.
“Honestly, I felt it a few times during the fight. I always had the ability to take this extra step and get harder and harder, I tried to do it in the 5th and 6th round … I just couldn’t, to be honest. . “
As happened: Terezivsky won the epic battle with Galen
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Terzievsky came up with a clear game plan, which he carried out perfectly throughout the opening round – but Galen said he always felt he would be able to remove it in the middle of the fight.
“I knew the first four, five rounds would be very difficult to get started and I just thought I could put my foot in the gas and get to the top,” he said.
“I was close, like he said he got out on his feet, I was very close. I couldn’t get to that next level. That’s the life partner, everyone gets old and whether I do it again or not, I’m not too sure I’ll see, but it could be. “
The former shark captain said nothing but his own cardio pushed him during the fight.
“Honestly, there was nothing that surprised me in this fight – I was tired. What can I do? I am 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 to promote Australian boxing, and that’s what I did.”
Galen was miles behind on the scorecard as he gave up everything in the ninth round and almost finished the fight. But a completely gas-fired Terzievsky survived and maintained his distance in tenth place to ensure victory.
“It was a mental challenge,” Terezivsky said of that final round.
“It was a challenge for me – there were times when I thought I was done. It was more about digging deeper.
“To tell you the truth, I was original – I didn’t think I’d be able to dance on my toes for so long, but it was proof of what I did.”
Unload on the lion-heart gallen opponent
During the Victorian build-up, a few barbs from Galen stopped and grew in the spotlight as the day drew to a close.
“I can feel Chris getting more and more confident every day,” Galen said.
“I actually got to the point where I thought he was joking a little, to be honest,” he joked.
“I was hoping I could contact him today and let him know.”
The mood between the two was amicable – where media promises were made together after a fight on a sofa in Galen’s dressing room.
And if that’s the end of the run for Galen, it’s a pretty fitting place to end – sitting next to another hidden gem of Australian boxing that helped promote the former NRL star.
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