By Jim Dower: Former WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne (26-1, 23 KOs) will be taking a confidence booster type of fight next month against 36-year-old journeyman Junior Pati (12-22-1, 6 KOs) on November 24 at the AMI Netball Centre in St. Johns, New Zealand.
Browne, 39, is trying to regain his equilibrium with his career after being knocked out in the 6th round by British heavyweight Dillian Whyte in the 6th round last March in London, England. Browne made the mistake of coming into the fight with Whyte overweight, and not in the best shape. Browne weighed in at 264 lbs for the fight with Whyte, but he should have been at least 15 pounds lighter so that he could gain some hand speed.
The 6’5″ Browne came in lighter for his last fight against 41-year-old journeyman Julius Long. Browne weighed in at 256 pounds for their September 28 fight, and he was able to knock the 7-foot Long out in the 3rd round. Browne didn’t look like a world beater during the fight, but his hand speed looked improved from his previous fight against Whyte. In the 3rd round, Long trapped Browne against the ropes and was pummeling him with shots. Browne then threw a blind right hand with his eyes closed, and the shot caught Long in between punches, sending him down to the canvas for the knockout. Browne’s punching power looked good as always.
“I’m trying to get some momentum going again after the Whyte fight,” Browne said. “I’ve made some adjustments to my diet and training and my weight is coming down drastically. I will be going to Thailand for a training camp for this bout and despite Pati having a modest record, I’m going to be there to take his head off. I’m not taking him lightly.”
At 39, Browne can’t afford to be taking too many tune-ups. It was alright for Browne to take on a soft touch like Browne for a confidence booster immediately after his loss to Whyte, but for him to be still fighting lower level fighters at this point, it’s a waste of time. Browne shouldn’t be devoting an entire year to fighting journeyman level fighters at his age.
British domestic level heavyweight David Allen and highly rated contender Adam Kownacki are both interested in fighting Browne. One of those two guys would be fine for Browne to be fighting right now than wasting time fighting the little known Junior Pati, a fighter with 22 losses on his resume. Even an out of shape Browne is capable of beating better opposition than Pati.
“There’s been plenty of talk about facing Adam Kownacki, David Allen and those kind of guys in 2019, but first he needs to get past Pati,” Browne’s manager Matt Clark said.
Browne captured the WBA World heavyweight title in March 2016 in stopping then champion Ruslan Chagaev in the 10th round in Russia. Browne was trailing badly going into the 10th and he needed a knockout for him to pull out the fight. Even if Browne had won the last three rounds, he still would have ended up losing. Brown’s punching power bailed him out in that fight.
Browne would do well to get back down to the 250 lbs that he weighed for his fight against Chagaev in 2016.