Lucas Browne

(Photo credit: Steve Parkin/Hatton Promotions) By Ben Thomsett: Before last night, many thought Lucas Browne had something special. Others thought that he was too under-skilled to make it far in this game. Well, both sets of people have mounting evidence for their respective cases after the bout last night between Browne and Eric Bahoeli for the Commonwealth Heavyweight title. And I think most of them enjoyed the fight.

Browne came into the bout at nineteen and a half stones. At six foot four tall, that makes for a huge human being. Couple that with a decent punch and possibly one of the most intimidating presences in the division and it’s a potent and salable mix. His promoter – Ricky Hatton – got carried away with it all and had even been heard to say before the fight that Lucas was headed for the top “I think he’s got every chance of being the world heavyweight champ” he predicted with the kind of certainty that only promoters have.

read more

By Scott Gilfoid: #11 WBC heavyweight contender Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne (20-0, 18 KO’s) bludgeoned Eric Martel Bahoeli (10-4, 7 KO’s) into submission in five rounds on Saturday night to win the vacant Commonwealth and WBC Eurasian Pacific Boxing Council heavyweight titles at the Ponds Forge Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Browne showed huge, huge power in the fight, but he looked very slow and his work rate wasn’t as good as you’d like to see. Browne’s power was amazing though. You’ve got to give Bahoeli a lot of credit for being able to take the shots he was hit with.

Browne knocked Bahoeli to the canvas with a short right hand to the head in the 5th round to get the stoppage. Referee Richard James Davies then stepped in and halted the fight at 1:26 of the round. Browne knocked Bahoeli down once in the 2nd, 4th and 5th times. In the 3rd, Browne suffered a bad cut over his left eye from a clash of heads. The cut was a really bad one and it was pretty clear that Browne was racing against time after the cut occurred.

read more

By John Hoolan: On Saturday evening Lucas Browne will step into the ring on the Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield with the weight and expectation of a country on his shoulders. He will be aiming to be the first Australian to win the Commonwealth Title for 122 years. A win would also provide a huge boost to Browne’s standing within the game, currently rated #11 by The WBC and in the top 15 by The WBA and IBF, Ricky Hatton (lucas’ promoter) believes a win would push Lucas into the top 5 and on the verge of a world title shot. No pressure then!

Standing in his way is Eric Martel Bahoeli. Known as the hammer from Canada with a record of – won 10 (KO 7) + lost 3 (KO 2) + drawn 0 = 13. Bahoeli is a huge underdog according to the bookies for this fight. Some have him as more of a longshot than Leapai is against Klitschko. In his own words though Bahoeli says “I have been an underdog maybe 3 times before, so this is nothing new to me”. He is ranked 48 in the world and 2nd, behind Stiverne in the Canadian rankings.

read more