As it happened: Justis Huni claims final-round stoppage win over gritty, gutsy Gallen

That’s it from me tonight folks. Thanks for joining me and stay tuned for Adrian Proszenko’s yarn from the venue. It’ll be well worth reading.

You probably can’t call that champagne boxing tonight, but it was a really, truly gutsy effort from Paul Gallen to hang in there for so long - pure mongrel. As for Justis Huni, this is just the start. Let’s see how he goes at the Olympics and beyond. The kid has something special, for sure, and is built for this, but he’s still young and still learning.

Thanks again!

Ben Damon is in the ring now with Justis Huni.

“A quick shoutout to Gal, he’s an awesome competitor - very tough, very strong. Thank you to him for putting up an awesome challenge,” Huni said.

“He’s very tough. He’s definitely built different. You’re a legend, mate. Good on you.

“The build-up was good, I enjoyed every step of it. He definitely made it tricky for me with his words but we don’t let that get to us. We come here and do what we need to do.”

Huni seemed to make a tacit admission though that tonight’s performance wasn’t convincing enough, and that he’ll need to change the way he boxes to be the heavyweight powerhouse he is aiming to become.

“Obviously after I accomplish all my amateur dreams and represent Australia at the Olympics, I’ll come back and sit down with my team and definitely change my style into a professional style,” he said.

“Hopefully [I’ll] make youse all proud and bring home the gold medal.”

Three minutes left. Can Gallen see this out, or can Huni find the YouTube highlight finish? Huni continues to dominate. Big left hook wobbles Gal! Another combo... and there it is, surely! Gallen is floored but he gets up... and the ref calls it. That’s enough. It’s a tenth-round stoppage for Justis Huni, with half of the final round left to go!

Gallen’s corner is telling him Huni’s tiring and that one punch can still win it for him. In the other corner, they’re working on Huni’s tape. There’s levels to this, I guess. But if Huni wants to get to the top top levels of the fight game he needs to get his skates on. He surely didn’t come here for a points win over an ex-footballer. Finally he’s starting to land more big rights on Gallen’s head... and another one. Where was this urgency earlier? Another right from Huni. They’re tallying up. Gallen presses forward but he’s almost emptied the tank here. Another straight right to the face, after a body hit. He looks hurt for sure. Huni combo, the crowd is getting behind him... but the clock beats him. A remarkable effort from Gallen to still be in this.

Huni’s body assault continues. Gallen’s corner must be thinking about throwing in the towel here. There’s not much upside for him here over the last three rounds, surely... Huni doesn’t seem to be hunting the KO though, which is what the crowd came here for. Strange. He’s doing this easy, too easy... although the biggest issue for Huni that round was the tape on his gloves coming undone, again. If that’s your biggest problem, you’re going OK.

Gallen obviously needs a big KO out of nowhere to win this and it’s hard to imagine it coming. And Huni needs a highlight reel KO, let’s be honest, because a win over an ex-footballer doesn’t look good on paper no matter how tough Gallen is. The body shots just keep on piling up... how much longer can Gallen sustain this? He’s going to be a sore lad tomorrow. Gallen’s hands are down, Hunis going hard.... another big right from Huni on Gallen, he’s on the run... Can’t see that Olympic dream being ruined. Huni shutout so far.