Lucas Browne – The other heavyweight champion of the world

By Boxing News - 05/11/2016 - Comments

browne4333By Brant Burke: As the heavyweight division heats up with the names of Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, David Haye, Luis Ortiz, even veteran hard hitter Shannon Briggs. Another well-deserved name rarely gets a mention. That name is Lucas Browne – The WBA ‘regular’ Heavyweight Champion of the world.

Lucas Browne (24-0 – 21KO) against all odds defeated Ruslan Chagaev in Chechnya in March of this year to become Australia’s first ever Boxing Heavyweight Champion of the world.
Browne, a former bouncer from Sydney’s kings cross had a stint in MMA before turning to boxing. Browne turned pro in 2009 with no amateur boxing experience. Since then, Browne has powered his way through the heavyweight division claiming the Australian Heavyweight title along with the Commonwealth (British Empire) heavyweight title before winning the WBA world title.

Though the weeks to follow after winning the title weren’t exactly celebrations for the 113kg Aussie, after failing a drug test after his 10th round TKO win over Chagaev. Testing positive to a banned substance Clenbuterol. For the record, Clenbuterol is a Broncho-dilating agent commonly used on horses to strip them of any weight. Basically it increases the heart rate, so one burns off more calories, essentially resulting in them losing weight. Kind of like having 5 coffees at once.

Now I along with many other boxing fans and commentators around the world find it very hard to believe that Browne or any heavyweight boxer would use Clenbuterol, weight is not an issue for a heavyweight boxer. Browne also states that he is a clean athlete and arrived in Russia a clean athlete. Six days out from the Chagaev fight Browne passed a random blood and urine test. Browne has also since passed a lie detector test. It makes absolutely zero sense for Browne to consume this drug knowingly well he would be caught. Browne was the one who also requested the strict VADA testing. In Browne’s 23 previous fights, he has tested negative every time.

How then did Clentubuterol end up in Browne’s system after the fight? Could it have been consumed in a meal Browne ate after the weigh in? It’s possible.

In 2011, at the Fifa Under-17 World Cup, over 100 players tested positive for clenbuterol in Mexico. Of the 24 countries involved, 19 had shown traces of the substance after analysis of urine samples. Fifa ordered meat samples to be collected from team hotels and 30 per cent of these showed the presence of clenbuterol. Mexico’s victorious Under-17 team did not have a single adverse finding.

Going to Chechnya to fight the champion was never going to be easy for Browne. As it appears, fighting to now clear his name has become his biggest challenge. Browne is currently waiting on the WBA to make a decision, whilst also undertaking their own investigations. I am also intrigued to know how this will play out. Browne’s promoter Ricky Hatton has previously stated ““We will keep going and do all that we can do to prove his innocence. Matters are in the hands of the lawyers and the WBA. I and the whole of boxing hope they do the right thing by Lucas. Boxing needs that to happen to maintain its credibility. The public is behind Lucas because they know the truth as well.”

At present, Browne’s boxing future is unclear. Browne has previously stated he would be fighting Fres Oquendo next, possibly in Australia. This all comes down to the WBA and their decision.

Browne would almost certainly be an underdog fighting the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko or Deontay Wilder. However, Browne was also the underdog going to Chechnya to fight Chagaev before stopping him. Three division World Champion and former trainer of Mike Tyson, Jeff Fenech has stated “Lucas Browne hits harder than Tyson.” That is quite a statement and shows how hard this man can actually hit.

Browne is not the most technically sound boxer. However. entering the pro boxing world with zero amateur experience, then 6 years later becoming an undefeated boxing world champion is quite a feat in itself and with the Heavyweight division certainly heating up, I personally would like to see Lucas Browne in the mix.
We anxiously await WBA’s decision…