By Patrick McHugh: WBA heavyweight champion Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne took a big step towards potentially clearing his name from the positive drug test from his last fight against Ruslan Chagaev on March 5 of last month.
Browne, 36, and his promoters at Hatton Promotions are saying that he passed a polygraph [lie detector] test about whether he knowingly took the banned substance clenbuterol before his contest with the 37-year-old Chagaev last month on Grozny, Russia. Browne suspects he ingested some tainted meat at a restaurant in Russia while he was there for the fight.
It’ll still be up to the World Boxing Association to determine whether Browne gets to keep his WBA title and whether or not he’ll fined and suspended.
“I am pleased that the polygraph test confirmed that I am telling the truth,” said Browne in a statement. “The result is not a surprise to me as I have always said I am a clean athlete, I know I arrived in Grozny a clean athlete and I know I did nothing wrong when I was there. It should never be forgotten that I requested the VADA testing for the fight. Whilst the result is not a surprise to me, I consider this test another step towards proving my innocence.”
If Browne is stripped of his WBA and suspended from the sport, it would be a big blow for him. He’s not a young fighter, and it might take him a while to work his way back to another world title shot if he ever does. As the new WBA heavyweight champion, Browne has the chance to make life changing money in fights against the likes of David Haye, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
Browne would likely need to first defend his title against the ring rusty 43-year-old former world title challenger Fres Oquendo, who hasn’t fought in almost two years. That would be a very winnable fight for Browne due to his power and youth advantage. Oquendo hasn’t fought since losing a controversial 12 round majority decision to Chagaev in July 2014 in Grozny, Russia.
If Browne wins that fight, then he’ll be in a great position to cash in on being the WBA champion by facing the likes of Joshua, Fury, Haye or Wilder. Joshua or Fury would give Browne his best chance for a big money payday. We saw how Charles Martin got a nice payday against Joshua this month. Browne would be able to cash in as well if he’s not stripped of his title by the WBA for his positive drug test, and if he’s not beaten by the 43-year-old Oquendo.