By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Graham Shaw who trains Australian boxing’s biggest pay-per-view attraction Paul Gallen (10-0-1, 5 KOs) talks to Fightnews.com® about Gallen’s will clash with former WBA heavyweight champion Lucas “ Big Daddy” Browne (29-2, 25 KOs) on April 21 at Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, NSW televised on FoxtelMain Event Pay-Per-View.

“We have been training for Lucas Browne since the fight was announced which is about ten weeks ago,” said Shaw, who previously trained former WBA, IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale and former IBF light welterweight champion Lovemore Ndou.

“Paul Gallen didn’t have much of a break since the Mark Hunt fight. He had about three weeks break after the win over Hunt. Paul Gallen is a dedicated trainer and he is as good as anybody I have had.

“I was in Gallen’s corner for his first fight and after he asked if I would train him. He has been sparring the best heavyweights including Willis Meehan, the son of former world heavyweight contender Kali Meehan. Sparring with Willis was very good. It showed Gallen can compete with the best. He sparred with Bowie Tupou last week and was impressive. Paul boxed the African heavyweight Fosso from Canberra also. I have tried to get him the best sparring and I believe I have done that.

“I have watched Browne’s recent fights and he has done nothing. Gallen is boxing much better. Browne is not a technical boxer. His hands are down and feet all over the place. Head sticking up in the air. He hasn’t got a trainer and nobody is telling him to tighten himself up.

“We used Alex Simon in sparring who competes in the world’s strongest man competition and has a fight coming up in Dubai. He tore a bicep sparring Paul. Dave Millward is training him. Alex can throw punches. He weighs 168 kg and 6’2”. He loads up but made Paul keep his hands up. He has done MMA and kickboxing.

“Gallen is boxing real good. The idea is not to get hit but they are heavyweights. They can swing their arm at you and knock you over. Paul has got to box careful and stay tight and clean which he has been doing in training. Gallen has real good head movement and he won’t stand in front of Browne and let him tee off. Gallen will keep the pressure on Browne.

“Paul’s last opponent Mark Hunt (former UFC and MMA champion) would have similar power to Browne and he tagged Paul when they fought but he stayed upright. Hunt showboated and gave Paul time to recover. Paul Gallen is tough, there are no two ways about it. He is the toughest fighter I have had along with Lovemore Ndou. You had to kill Lovemore to stop him. Gallen is the same. When he gets hurt – he grits his teeth and carries on. I am not sure if Browne has that.

“Paul Gallen respects the sport of boxing. When he goes into a gym and they say Paul Gallen is here – he keeps to himself but if someone wants a photo he will always give them a photo. He is not up himself. Everyone who meets him likes him. He is a good person.

“You will see a different Paul Gallen against Browne. Brian Willmont (Australian boxing’s leading cutman) watched Gallen in sparring recently and he said he has never seen him box better. Paul boxed sensational.

“This last four weeks it has really come together for him and against the high-level heavyweight sparring. He knows he cannot take silly risks against them.

“Gallen has a heavy schedule with television and radio commitments but we work around them so his training doesn’t suffer. I am a full-time boxing trainer so I can do that. He trained today at 8:30am and Paul has a media day at Bondi. Paul has never said to me I cannot make it today. We plan his training around his work commitments and it has worked. He runs daily on the road and also in the sand dunes of Cronulla. He does that before he comes to the gym. Gallen is a machine.”