Fresh from flattening former NRL star John Hopoate, Australia’s first heavyweight boxing champion Lucas Browne says he has no desire to step in the ring against fellow rugby league player Paul Gallen.

Browne destroyed Hopoate in a second round TKO at the St Marys Band Club in Sydney’s west on Saturday night. After being rocked in the first round, Browne hit back and pummelled Hopoate into submission as he let both hands loose with the 45-year-old pinned against the ropes.

The referee jumped in to call the fight off with less than 10 seconds left in the second round as a dusty Hopoate stumbled forwards and had to be held upright by the official.

According to Sporting News the former Wests Tigers and Manly winger — who took the fight on just four days’ notice — was so disoriented he went back to his corner to get ready for the next round, unaware he’d been concussed.

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Lucas Browne stops John Hopoate in the last 10 seconds of the second round. pic.twitter.com/gFxu1GxYeh — Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) November 9, 2019

But while Browne — who became Australia’s first heavyweight world champion in 2016 — made light work of Hopoate, it hasn’t stoked his interest to chase more fights against footy players.

Former NSW captain Gallen is squaring off against AFL great Barry Hall on Friday night and the pair are expected to rake in plenty of cash for their Code War showdown. If Browne was offered similar money he’d have no trouble touching gloves but he claims he’d be ripped off if he agreed to a blockbuster bout against a contender from a footy background.

“(I’ve been) getting a lot of, basically calls and not abuse so much, but … why aren’t I fighting Gallen?” Browne said in a video posted to his Instagram account.

“Now, the reason I’m not fighting Gallen is because Gallen is getting paid 10 times more than I am for fighting someone who isn’t a boxer.

“So Gallen won’t fight me because he’ll pay me f*** all, like I’m getting anyway. He’s getting more than I got paid for the world title (fight) for this next fight.

“Six, two-minute rounds and he’s getting paid over double what I got paid for my world title.

“That’s just Aussie boxing for you. I get paid f*** all, and most Aussie boxers get paid f*** all. Footy players and people like that come on board and they get paid 10 times as much.

“So if they want to offer me the same money as they (Gallen and Hall) are fighting for, I’ll fight both of them on the same night, I don’t care at all.

“The fact of the matter is I’m not getting cheap shotted and not paid for something that I should be getting paid a lot more for.

“That’s the reason.”

Browne, who escaped from his fight with Hopoate unscathed except for a “nick on the nose”, is planning to fight Queenslander Demsey McKean next year.

While the 40-year-old claims Gallen’s payday will surpass anything he’s ever enjoyed, the pair do have at least one thing in common — they’ve both knocked out Hopoate.

Gallen fought the former NRL bad boy in February this year and, like Browne, floored him in the second round to win via knockout.

The ex-Cronulla forward will be hoping for a similar outcome when he takes on Hall in Melbourne on Friday night. Gallen has said he’s confident of sending the 2005 AFL premiership winner to the canvas but is upset the former Swans captain refused to agree on three-minute rounds.

Instead, the fight will consist of six, two-minute rounds, prompting Gallen to claim he’s being stitched up as everything goes in Hall’s favour.

“I definitely feel like this is a fight set up for Barry without a doubt,” Gallen told AAP last week.

“He’s got everything he wanted. The rounds, he’s basically s***-canned everyone I’ve fought yet he only wants to fight two-minute rounds because he’s 42.

“It’s going to be pro-Barry crowd — it’s clear to see it’s heavily weighted in his favour so I’ve got to go down there and knock him out.

“I’m going to put to bed all of this chat that Barry could have, or should have or still can be a champion boxer.”

Hall was a talented boxer as a junior but this will be the first time he’s fought officially since he was 16.