Paul Gallen stopped Justin Hodges to seal a remarkable pair of wins in his extremely rare double-header, but fans and commentators alike were left appalled as the bout devolved into chaos – especially in a controversial second round that saw both fighters throw illegal shots.
After both fighters came out with all guns blazing in a thrilling opening round, Hodges seemed to be in the ascendance early in the second round.
After the duo clinched and were told to break, Hodges threw a – clearly late – right hand that landed flush on Gallen’s chin and rocked the former Blues star.
“He didn’t like that and he certainly felt the shot. It was a big right hand that came right on the break,” Ben Damon said in commentary for Main Event.
Hodges apologised but avoided a penalty for his actions. In the very next exchange, Hodges sent Gallen crashing to the canvas.
Damon said: “The shot on the break had him rocked, and then that one sat him down. And now he’s in trouble!”
Hodges had Gallen rocked and as the action resumed, with Gallen desperately fending off defeat and showing his trademark resilience.
Then things descended into utter bedlam.
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Gallen pushed Hodges backwards into the ropes, and then forced Hodges’ entire torso out OVER the ropes – with his body almost horizontal. With his opponent stuck in that position, Gallen then struck Hodges with a brutal right hand to the chin.
Hodges was clearly badly injured by the illegal shot, and as Gallen was pulled off him, the Queenslander dropped to one knee – only to be told to “get up” by the referee, who Ben Damon declared was “losing control here”.
Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech said in commentary for Main Event: “He was pushed over the rope and hit Ben. How illegal is it? I know they’re football players but (wow).
“That’s absurd,” Ben Damon said. “I’m surprised no one lost any points in the round, some of the stuff we saw.”
Fenech said: “If Justin Hodges stays down, he wins a point (and wins) by disqualification.”
The drama continued at the start of the third round as Hodges emerged with the tape on his gloves falling off – with commentators in no doubt it had been a deliberate move from his corner to buy time for their struggling fighter.
“They’ve done that on purpose, of course,” Fenech said.
“The referee’s lost total control,” he added.
After stepping in – correctly – to stop the fight, the referee still drew plenty of ire.
Promoter Matt Rose stormed into the ring to furiously confront the referee, who replied: “F*** off. Get the f*** out of the ring. Get out of the ring!”
