Lucas Browne

Lucas Browne (born 14 April 1979) is an Australian professional boxer and former mixed martial artist and kickboxer.

Browne turned professional on 20 March 2009 at the age of 30.

He won his first contest by fourth round knockout.

At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Australian and Commonwealth heavyweight titles between 2012 and 2015.

On 17 February 2012, Browne became the Australian heavyweight champion by knocking out Colin Wilson in three rounds.

On 28 April 2013, he defeated the future hall of famer and three-weight division world champion James Toney by twelve round unanimous decision with scores of 117–111, 119–109, and 120–108.

Three months later, he stopped former NABF heavyweight champion Travis Walker in seven rounds.

Walker dropped Browne in round 1.

Although Walker appeared to clearly win round 7, his corner called the fight off before round 8 could get underway.

In November 2013, Browne scored a fifth round TKO of former European Union heavyweight champion Richard Towers.

The fight was an eliminator for the Commonwealth heavyweight title, which at the time was held by David Price.

On 26 April 2014, Browne fought Éric Martel-Bahoéli for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title at the Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield, England.

Browne knocked down Martel-Bahoéli in round 2 but the fight continued.

In round 3, following an accidental clash of heads, Browne was cut over the left eye.

Two inspections were undertaken by the ringside doctor, who allowed the fight continue.

Martel-Bahoéli was knocked down again in round 4 and the end came in round 5 when Browne connected with a right uppercut.

Browne also claimed the WBC Eurasian Pacific Boxing Council heavyweight title.

Browne defended the WBC-EPBC title on 1 August 2014 against Andriy Rudenko (24-0) at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, England.

Browne defeated Rudenko by a 12 round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title.

The judges scored the fight 116–112, 115–113, and 117–112 all in favour of Browne.

Browne was originally due to fight Fres Oquendo, who hadn't fought since 2014, however that fight could not be made due to Oquendo recovering from an injury.

The WBA ordered the winner of this bout to fight Oquendo in a mandatory defense within 120 days.

Reports indicated that after 8 months of being stripped of the WBA heavyweight title due to positive A and B samples for the banned substance clenbuterol, Browne has produced another positive drug test, this time for the banned substance ostarine.

On 14 November 2015, the WBA ordered Ruslan Chagaev to reach a deal to make a defence of his WBA title against Australian heavyweight contender Browne.

The two sides had until 30 November to reach a deal.

Chagaev's promoter Timur Dugazaev announced the fight would likely take place in Grozny in March 2016.

In the January 2016, the fight was officially announced to take place on 5 March.

Browne won the fight by stopping Chagaev in the tenth round.

Browne landed nearly 20 unanswered punches, mostly right hands, before referee Stanley Christodoulou stopped the fight at 2 minutes, 27 seconds.

Browne was knocked down in the sixth round and at the time of the knockout, behind on all judges scorecards, 81–88, 82–88, and 82–88.

The fight was not without controversy, with a reported 59 seconds of erroneous time during rounds 6 and 7 of the bout.

Browne was later stripped of the title and the Chagaev bout was ruled a no contest, due to a failed drug test for the banned substance clenbuterol.

Browne repeatedly maintained his innocence, however testing on the second sample for the drug proved positive.

On 2 November 2016, the WBA ordered Browne to fight American heavyweight veteran Shannon Briggs for the WBA regular title.

The fight was ordered to take place before the end of 2016.

On 18 May 2017, Browne's manager, Matt Clark announced that he would be making a return to the ring on 2 June 2017 at the Club Punchbowl in Sydney.

On 26 May, his opponent was announced as journeyman Mathew Greer (16-20, 13 KOs).

In a scheduled six round fight, Browne dropped and stopped the over matched Greer in round 2.

After the win, Browne set his sights on WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.

On 17 October 2017, it was reported that Browne would travel to Moscow, Russia, to fight unbeaten 30-year-old Sergei Kuzmin (11-0, 8 KOs) for the WBA Inter-Continental title on 27 November.