NRL great Justin Hodges insists he was ROBBED of $1million rematch in Paul Gallen footy fight

Former NRL star Justin Hodges is adamant he was robbed of a $1million payday in his boxing bout with fellow rugby league hard man Paul Gallen.

It comes as the Sharks premiership-winning captain feared his second fight on Thursday night would be called off due to a cut under his left eye, delivered courtesy of Ben Hannant.

Former Queensland Origin great Hodges, 40, shocked many at the Nissan Arena in Brisbane when he dropped – and very nearly stopped – Gallen in the second round of a pulsating and sometimes spiteful bout.

Hodges was then stopped himself in the third round – but insists he was fine to continue when the referee stepped in to save him from further punishment.

‘I was robbed of that opportunity,’ Hodges said of his potential seven-figure collect.

‘I wasn’t hurt. There’s no way in the world that I was rocked. No way I was even dazed.

Gallen had to dig deep when he was rocked by Hodges – he also was accidentally head-butted by Ben Hannant in his first of two fights

Gallen used his left to bend Hodges back over the ropes before nailing him with an illegal right hand in the second round – with Aussie boxing great Jeff Fenech saying the Queenslander could have won on a disqualification if he opted to stay down

‘I was against the ropes, got hit twice, but was fine. ‘Yeah, we were both knackered. Both throwing punches.

‘But it was just a couple of hits that he (Gallen) got me. I was ready to keep going.

‘I couldn’t believe he (referee Tony Kettlewell) stopped it.’

Hodges went onto reveal he asked Kettlewell why he stopped the fight. He was informed he ‘looked done.’

As part of a pre-fight deal with promoters No Limit Boxing, both Hodges and fellow Queenslander Hannant were offered a $1million rematch clause if either of them beat Gallen in the double header.

Hannant lost in a unanimous decision – but literally left his mark on Gallen.

Hannant (right) was meant to be cannon fodder for the vastly more experienced Gallen but he shocked fight fans by going the distance – and doing some damage

Gallen landed the heavier and crisper shots but couldn’t knock the ex-Queensland star down, let alone knock him out 

Hodges came out all guns blazing in Gallen’s second bout, connecting with heavy shots soon after the first bell sounded – and knocked Gallen down with a right hand 45 seconds into the second round

The father of eight accidentally headbutted the former NSW Blues enforcer – and it almost saw Gallen have to withdraw from his duel against Hodges.

‘Happened with 20 seconds to go, too,’ Gallen told the Daily Telegraph.

‘I went back to my corner, saw blood and thought ‘oh, shit’. Then when the referee came over to check me, I thought I’d been split.

‘Even Justin Hodges said later he saw it on a TV in his dressing room and started stressing our fight would be off. I was stressing too.’

But as he did so many times in his rugby league career with Cronulla, NSW as well as Australia – and in recent years as a prize fighter boxer, Gallen dug deep and prepared to give his all yet again.

His best mate Scotty Hogan urged him to ‘find something’ in between fights – and the 41-year-old responded in heroic fashion.

He didn’t expect to be rocked by a Hodges punch which left him crawling on all fours – but Gallen hates losing and that spurred him to rise from the canvas.

In the end, Gallen did just enough to chalk up another victory – but with Father Time knocking on his door, his next bout is likely to be his last.