Nelson Asofa-Solomona claimed he reacted to a racist taunt after lashing out at a heckler in the immediate aftermath to his savage victory over fellow former NRL great Paul Gallen in Sydney.
Asofa-Solomona brutally stripped Gallen of the crossover king mantle with a vicious first-round knockout in the pair’s much-hyped heavyweight stoush on Friday night.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s brutal KO marred by crowd incident
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In sickening scenes at TikTok Entertainment Centre, Gallen lay prone on the canvas for several minutes after the Big Nasty landed a half a dozen hammer blows to the 45-year-old’s head — including one while his beaten rival already seemed out to it.
The former Melbourne Storm enforcer then jumped into the crowd and attempted to strike a fan as Gallen received medical treatment.
“I want to apologise to everyone for that. I just got in the middle of the heat of the moment,” Asofa-Solomona said.
“I hope you guys can understand. There’s been a big build up, and I should not behave like that. I’m sorry.”
Asked later, Asofa-Solomona said: “Someone was doing an ape gesture. I stood on the ropes and it looked like someone threw something at me. “If I had my time back, I would, because that’s not on. But what that guy did to me, in terms of that gesture, is not on either.“I’d just seen red.”The two premiership-winning NRL greats had engaged in a spiteful war of words that Asofa-Solomona threatened to turn physical during Wednesday’s official pre-fight press conference.
But he left his biggest statement for the ring.
In addition to beating Sonny Bill Williams in a split decision in the pair’s overdue grudge match last year, Gallen had taken care of fellow retired NRL stars Justin Hodges, Ben Hannant, Darcy Lussick, John Hopoate and Junior Paulo during his 20-fight pro career.
But Asofa-Solomona refused to join the long lost and instead added Gallen to his own unbeaten record from four bouts, all coming via knockout.
The Big Nasty had laid out George Burgess, Jarrod Wallace and Jeremy Latimore but nothing nowhere nearly as vicious as Friday night’s destruction that forced Gallen to hospital.
“I really hope he’s all good,” Asofa-Solomona said.
A host of Kangaroos including Sam Walker, Latrell Mitchell and Cameron Munster enjoyed ringside seats as the two-metre man-monster delivered on his promise to “do a job” on the former NSW State of Origin captain and Cronulla premiership-winning captain.
But his repeated blows, when Gallen was on the ropes and already down, were described as “sickening” in the commentary and “horrific” by those watching.
“That’s hard to watch,” veteran caller Ben Damon said.
Horse racing analyst John Walter said: “Paul Gallen knocked out in horrific fashion. Hope he pulls up OK,”
Meanwhile, referee Chris Condon has been accused of being too slow to act as the blows kept coming.
“Was the ref waiting for the bunker to step in?” one fan said on X.
And another: “That ref was woefully slow to stop that one.”
And another: “Did the ref think he was part of the crowd?”
And another: “That ref needs locking up. Scandalous behaviour. He should’ve been straight in after the second uppercut.”
In the most-anticipated bout of the undercard, Ahmad Reda added the more experienced and heavier Jake Wyllie (19-3) to his perfect record of 10 wins with a split decision points victory.
Wyllie caused a weigh-in fiasco when he stood on the scales two kilograms heavier than the 61kg lightweight limit on Thursday, but it didn’t faze Reda.
“I wasn’t afraid to jump in with him,” the victor told his home fans.
“I believe in myself all the way and I believe I’ll smash anyone in Australia. And once I clean out my backyard, I’m going overseas.”
– With 7NEWS.com.au
