By Jeff Aranow: WBA heavyweight champion Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne (24-0, 21 KOs) is ready to take a lie detector test to have his name cleared after he tested positive for the banned drug Clenbuterol after his 10th round knockout win over WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev (34-3-1, 21 KOs) for his fight on March 5 in Grozny, Russia.
Browne thinks he ate some tainted meet while at a restaurant in Russia while there for the Chagaev fight.
Vada tested the 36-year-old Browne’s A-sample and that tested positive for the banned drug. Browne plans on having his B-sample tested in order to see if that tests negative. He’ll also be taking the polygraph test. It’s unclear whether passing the lie detector test will be enough for Browne to keep his WBA title.
“I’m going to do a polygraph (lie detector) test, as I know I’m innocent,” said Browne to couriermail.com.au. “If I’m not mistaken, we had the official weigh-in for the fight on the morning the day before the fight and then a big publicity extravaganza that night. Me and another boxer, Brian Minto, from America were the only fighters given steaks. My assumption is that something was in the steak.”
Even if Browne passes the lie detector test, it may require that his B-sample test negative in order for him to keep his WBA title. We’re going to have to see how this plays out. It would be a real tragedy if Browne loses his WBA due to him having eaten tainted meat.
If Browne does lose his WBA title due to his positive test, it could be a while before he can work his way back to a world title shot. Presumably, Chagaev would be given back his WBA title, and it’s not likely that he would give Browne a rematch if he didn’t have to. In that case, Browne might have to fight his way back to a Number one spot before he can get a second shot at a world title.
If Browne has to work his way back to a top spot in the WBA’s rankings, it could take a long, long time before he ever makes it to that position. If the WBA requires that Browne fight one of the top contenders to become the mandatory, he might not make it.
Browne was trailing Chagaev on all three scorecards by the scores of 88-82, 88-82 and 88-81 at the time that he stopped the Russian fighter in the 10th round.