BACK when he was earning a cult following in the Manly Sea Eagles' forward pack George Rose didn't think twice about trying to stop Paul Gallen but now - well now it's a different story.
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Since retiring from the NRL, George Rose has joined his brothers Matt and Trent in running a management company. The No Limit Boxing arm of that company has been a huge success for the siblings who grew up in Bathurst.
It is one of the top promoters of boxing in Australia and on Wednesday night they will put on the first stadium fight in Sydney since 2006.
Dubbed the Sydney Super Fight, it has one of the best cards ever assembled in Australia.
The card features a bout between former Cronulla star Paul Gallen - a one-time rival of Rose's - and UFC legend Mark Hunt.
As the pair exchange verbal blows in Monday's press conference, Rose freely admitted "I don't want to be in the ring when Paul Gallen and Mark Hunt step in there."
When asked to predict the outcome of the bout Hunt fired: "He gets a hiding ... put your arse to sleep, that's what's going to happen."
Gallen, who is undefeated in his 10 career fights, is also supremely confident of beating Hunt, who is seven years his senior and has come out of retirement for the bout.
"I'm in the mindset now that I just can't lose," he said. "He should have stayed in retirement. He won't come out of it after this."
Trash talk aside, Gallen appreciates the chance the Rose brothers have given himself and Hunt to fight on card featuring so many exciting boxing talents.
"It's unreal, this is what it's all about. Me and Mark are here and we may be some names, but it's all about these guys, exposing them to the world, exposing them to tens of thousands of people," he said.
Rose is also excited to witness the boxers fighting as part of the undercard, but admits seeing Gallen and Hunt square off in the ring will be extra special. It's a bout he once doubted would ever go ahead.
"I'm really excited about the card we've put together, fights that I've been hanging to see, Paul Gallen and Mark Hunt, I can't wait to see this fight," he said.
"This is a dream match up that I've been thinking of for years that I never thought would happen and the fact that we've got it happening is fantastic.
"I'm also really excited for the undercard as well ... we've got some of the best, young boxing talent here in Australia that are going to be on the undercard."
The main event on the Sydney Super Fight card is the bout between Tim Tszyu, who is undefeated in 16 fights, and New Zealand world-ranked boxer Bowyn Morgan.
The Rose brothers signed up to promote Tszyu in April 2019, with Matt Rose promising at the time: "The world knows of Kostya and soon they will know of Tim."
They were delighted when Tszyu stopped Jeff Horn after eight rounds in Townsville in August this year and are equally as excited about Wednesday night.
The bout has been upgraded from a super-welterweight word title to a world title eliminator.
That means if Tszyu wins, and the fight between Patrick Teixeira and Brian Castano does not go ahead before January 6, the 26-year-old will get a shot at the WBO super-welterweight title.
"It's fantastic news for Tim, it's been a great road that he's been taking to get where he's at now. We see every fight that Timmy has he steps up to another level and it's super exciting," he said.
"Timmy Tszyu is fighting the best super-welterweight out of New Zealand, don't get me wrong Bowyn Morgan has not been defeated in four years and he'd beat any other super welterweight in the country.
"Timmy Tszyu is obviously pound for pound best in Australia. It's going to be a fantastic match up too, I can't wait for that."
