The greatest redemption story in Australian sport is perhaps about to be written. It’s certainly the best story of 2018.
It involves climbing a peak that no other Australian has conquered, falling from the top, and then rising to climb it again.
Aussie boxer Lucas Browne is on just that journey, as dramatic and potentially uplifting as any Hollywood tale.
News that Browne’s team has secured a bout with Brit Dillian Whyte will come as great relief to fans who have been salivating at the prospect of ‘Big Daddy’ stepping back into the ring after his much-publicised failed drug tests.
The comeback has been a long time coming, as can happen in this sport of deal makers and breakers, and Browne himself has been busy calling out opponents for the better part of 12 months. Now he has a date and opponent set in stone, the real work can begin.
Browne is a man of contradictions, of extremes; the look of a biker and the nature of a philosopher; a beast in the ring, and a gentleman on the streets; erudite and intelligent, with a couple of big-time hurting bombs on the end of those tattooed arms.
Boxing fans will know his story well. A trip to Chechnya in 2016 resulted in a stunning knockout victory over local hero Ruslan Chagaev, giving Browne the honour of being Australia’s very first heavyweight champion.
Travelling to such a hostile environment, battling every obstacle that was put in front of him, and emerging victorious put Browne on the map for all the right reasons.
But it didn’t last long.
A positive test to clenbuterol saw Browne stripped of the title and despite having the ban overturned by the WBA, Browne struggled to shake the stigma after subsequently taking a supplement that also saw him fail a test.
Many wrote him off after the two issues, despite being cleared of one, but with the dramas now behind him, Browne starts on the path that he hopes will take him back to the title.
First on that path is Whyte, on March 24, at London’s O2 Arena.
The bad blood between Browne and White is obvious to anyone with a passing interest in social media. Regularly trading insults across various platforms, Browne has made no secret of his desire to unleash his power on Whyte, adamant he will end the fight early.
Despite travelling to Whyte’s home country for the bout, Browne will feel right at home in England, having fought there five times already and enjoying strong support in the country.
If Browne can secure this victory, he will set himself for the ultimate redemption bout – a world heavyweight title clash.
Boxing is a sport that offers fairy tales like few others, hence the frequent Hollywood treatment. The combination of endurance, pain, isolation and fear tests athletes like little else, and the many backstories of troubled upbringings and ultimate redemption add an irresistible layer of drama.
There is a long way to go, but if Lucas Browne can again be declared Australia’s first ever heavyweight champion, his name will be carved into our sporting history.
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