Paul Gallen v Nelson Asofa-Solomona LIVE updates: Former Cronulla Sharks star knocked out in first round

No surprises about how this fight started.

Asofa-Solomona tried to make of that very sizeable reach advantage by flicking the jab.

Gallen, meanwhile, was trying get inside look for an opening that will allow him to work on the inside. The former Sharks skipper didn’t show enough respect for Asofa-Solomona’s power and got tagged late in the round.

In the last 15 seconds of the round, the Melbourne forward absolutely pumelled Gallen with a series of lefts and rights.

“The G-Train” has crashed to the canvas and still hasn’t gotten up. It’s all over.

Crazy scenes.

Someone in the crowd almost copped a big right roundhouse from Asofa-Solomona. Who knows what would have happened had he connected.

“First and foremost, I just want to apologise for what I did earlier,” he said.

“I acted like a bit of an idiot, you know? I want to apologise to everyone for that. I just got a little bit caught up in the heat of the moment. I hope you guys can understand. It’s been a big build-up, and I shouldn’t have behaved like that. I’m sorry.”

Asofa-Solomona has become the first footballer to defeat Paul Gallen in the ring.

Gallen has recovered sufficiently from that barrage – it began with a straight right, followed up by two monster uppercuts – to congratulate the victor.

Asofa-Solomona has apologised for reacting to a heckler, before declaring he is “here to stay” as a boxer.

One thing is for sure. Gallen will be retiring after this. There is no coming back from what he just copped.

It’s taken several minutes, but Gallen is finally off the canvas and recovering on his stool.

Those punches he copped would have felled an elephant. It appeared that “NAS” punched Gallen one last time, even after he was prone on the canvas.

There were wild scenes straight afterwards after Asofa-Solomona ran out of the ring straight afterwards, seemingly taken umbrage at something that was said outside the ring.

He is now on the microphone, calling out Tommy Fury.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona is the first introduced to the crowd.

Plenty of boos for the former Melbourne forward, we could have a pro-Gallen crowd in the arena. Quality ring walk; “NAS” has got a rapper following him down the race. I’ve covered Asofa-Solomona all my career, but I’m still taken aback by his size – 201 centimetres, 139kg – every time I see him in person.

Gallen has just jogged into the ring.

Here we go, five three-minute rounds.

Who will emerge victorious?

If this fight had occurred five or six years ago, I reckon Nelson Asofa-Solomona wouldn’t have lasted two rounds.

But Gallen is now 45 and well past his best. I can understand him coming out of retirement for the Sonny Bill Williams fight, an event that had been more than a decade in the making. But with his bank balance full full and his sporting legacy secured, there was nothing left to prove.

Technically, Asofa-Solomona isn’t half the boxer that Gallen is. But given he is 15 years younger, 33 kilograms heavier and has a huge reach advantage, “NAS” only needs one punch to land to end the fight.

All of these factors make it an intriguing battle at this point in their careers.

For what it’s worth, I’m tipping the fact they are three-minute rounds (there are only five of them) will play into Gallen’s favour. My fearless prediction: Gallen on points.

Callum Peters is doing this pretty easily.

He knocked Ortiz down in the fourth round, but the Columbian got back to his feet pretty quickly. I’m giving Peters just about every round, but Ortiz has shown landed a few decent shots of his own.

Only two rounds left, if this is to go the distance.

We’re currently watching unbeaten local Callum Peters in action.

Peters is a middleweight of tremendous promise, having represented Australia at the 2024 Olympics. His opponent, Juan Diego Ortiz, is a 15-1 outsider, but has shown plenty of ticker and skill in the opening three rounds.

Gallen-NAS is on straight after this fight ends.