Jaiman Lowe, at a guess, reckons he will tip the scales around 135kg today.
“Although I could also be a little more,” the old South Sydney prop cackles.
“After all, I’ve been retired from footy a while now.
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“And with my job supervising at Townsville port, mate, I just point the finger around.
“Tell everyone else what to do.
“That’s why it’s so funny to see all the photos being run of me this week — they’re from a decade ago.
“Back when I was 20 kilos lighter.
“Still, just to be here fighting, it’s f…ing awesome.”
Almost 10 years to the day since he retired from rugby league as a Melbourne Storm premiership winner, Lowe is once again chasing an Australian sports fairytale.
Now aged 39, the Townsville father-of-three has signed on to fight Roosters premiership hero Siosiua Taukeiaho on the undercard of Wednesday’s Paul Gallen boxing farewell.
Arriving at a Monday press conference all shorts, thongs and broad North Queensland shoulders, Lowe revealed to Fox Sports Australia how, until agreeing to fight Taukeiaho at the 11th-hour, his plan had been to spend this week, as usual, overseeing a port full of fertiliser.
Instead though, the former NRL hard man will now undertake another, err, s… job nobody wanted.
Not only NRL players, either.
But a host of professional heavyweights.
With Taukeiaho, they say, boasting would may just be the heaviest hands in rugby league.
Yet while Lowe will start a massive outsider against the Tongan World Cup star – with even his own daughter suggesting dad will “get killed” – the former prop certainly looks every inch that heavyweight banger with a power right hand.
Better, the Queenslander says that, in preparation for this fight nobody wanted, he even went and enjoyed a quiet beer last Saturday.
“Had a couple at the weekend, yeah,” he grinned.
“A mate of mine in Brisbane had a golf day and fundraising dinner.
“So you get in a mood. And the beers are free.
“But I behaved myself.
“And now a couple of days out, I can’t get any fitter. Can’t get any worse, either.
“So I’ve cruised through, done a little training … then I’ll cross my fingers on Wednesday night.”
Given Taukeiaho is yet to fight professionally, Lowe has zero tape on the Catalan Dragons signing who, it is being suggested, boasts genuine knockout power in both hands.
“Although I’ve had people DM me on social media,” Lowe said. “People who’ve seen him on the pads and so on.
“But it’s been nothing I didn’t think he would already posses.
“Just have a look at him.
“He’s going to be powerful.
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“But having already had a professional fight myself, I’m relaxed.
“Pretty chilled.”
While Gallen remains furious with his own rival Justin Hodges for refusing to fight rounds of three minutes, Lowe has no problems with he and Taukeiaho brawling over intervals of two minutes.
“Even at the back end of my footy career I was only playing short spurts for Craig,” he says, referencing Storm coach Craig Bellamy.
“Just get on, do what I could then get out of there again.”
This time around you’re also under no pressure either, right?
“Mate, people have already eulogised me,” Lowe laughs. “So 100 per cent there is no pressure.
“Nobody expects me to do anything.
“But that’s fine.
“I’ve loved boxing for so long.
“And watching all the big fights, the big shows with the lights and so on, I’ve always thought ‘how good would that be?’.
“So now at my age to be on a No Limit Boxing show, among big name leaguies and world champion contenders — it’s unreal.
“I was lucky enough that my last NRL game, it was a grand final.
“So now, I’ve ticked two massive boxes.
“I’m blessed.”
