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Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne is on a redemption mission, heading back into the ring two years after he was crowned, momentarily, this country’s first heavyweight world champion.
On the eve of his departure for England to face Brit Dillian Whyte, I spoke to Lucas about his turbulent, fascinating career.
In part 1, hear his thoughts on Whyte, his plans for the fight, and the improvement he still sees ahead of him.
Cam Stokes: How’s the preparation going?
Lucas Browne: Yeah, everything’s been going very well so far, we’ve done a little bit of sparring over here, but nothing too much, because that is the purpose of us going over to the UK.
We leave on Wednesday (28 February), and we’ll spend ten or 11 days in Manchester at Ricky (Hatton)’s gym, sparring his ‘great hope’, the heavyweight Nathan Gorman, and then on the 11th we head to London. I believe we’re going to sparring the likes of (Derek) Chisora.
For me, it’s really just about fine tuning, peaking the fitness as much as we can, making sure the diet’s all good, and (losing) the last couple of kilos.
England’s a place that you’ve got some history with, you’ve obviously had a handful of fights over there, and clearly got a perfect record over there. Is it a place you feel a familiarity with?
Yeah very much so. Obviously there isn’t much of a language barrier, so that’s always a plus. But yeah it is very familiar, we’re essentially from there, there’s a lot of history there for us. I’m always very well received when I go over there, they love their boxing, so they love someone like me who comes over to fight, there’s never a dull moment in my fights, so I think I’m very well received in that manner.
In this fight in particular, because its Dillian Whyte, he’s such… he’s basically just a d**khead, so I think half the audience will want to see me knock him out, so I don’t think it will be much of a landslide in terms of the fans on the night. I think it will be more of a 50-50 split, which will be great.
So a bit different to Chechnya then?
Just a touch! It was pretty much 100 to nil there!
What about the fact this fight will be in London, somewhere you haven’t fought, and in an arena like the O2? Does that feel any different to you?
It really is like a job. I really do focus in on what needs to be done, what has to be done, and then on the night it’s just something that I do. I don’t get caught up in the moment so to speak, I like the after effect when you win and people cheer, and they give you a belt and things like that, but during the actual experience it just is what it is.
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Dillian Whyte is certainly an interesting character. I think from time to time people get a little cynical about some of the bluff and bluster that happens before fights, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here, this is a genuine dislike isn’t it?
Yeah, it’s just, social media, and the things he says about different things, I mean obviously what he says about me, I take into account personally, but I’ve got my opinion on things, and when I’ve come back and said something that ruffles his feathers a little bit, he’s taken it from there. So the fact we can actually get in the ring and bash each other, for me it’s great, and I think it just makes everything so much more real.
Is there a point where you park that feeling in the lead up, or is it something that you take into the ring with you?
To be honest I’ve never actually got into the ring with someone that I disliked. Quite often, even in MMA, I’ve had the weigh in, and then I’ve gone to have dinner with the guy I’m fighting the next day, and we’re talking about family and that sort of stuff. So there’s a camaraderie there I guess you could call it, but I literally don’t like (Whyte), so it will be interesting for me to see what does happen.
I think I’m extremely professional when it comes to the actual fight itself, and the art of fighting, so I don’t think I let my emotions get the best of me, but at the same time, I want to get into his head, and I want his emotions to get the best of him. He is an emotional person, so I may have to play a few games and tricks in the ring while we’re there, and talk to him as well, and see if I can get into his head.
Clearly your plan for this fight is to not leave the result in the hands of the judges to decide.
No, I’m never a fan of that, just the fact that you’ve got three people that see the fight the way they see it, whether there’s corruption or anything involved (doesn’t matter), it’s just three people judging it on their opinion basically. I’d rather just knock him out, I’ve won, he can’t argue with anything. I keep it in my hands, rather than three other people’s.
AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev
From an outsider looking in, you seem like a very different boxer to the one that you were a couple of years ago. Do you feel different as a boxer in terms of both your physicality and your mental approach to fights?
Yeah, I think mentally, regardless of everything else, mentally I’ve just become a lot stronger. I’ve sort of had to, because of all the stuff I’ve had to endure over the last two years in particular. And social media has a massive effect on all that, with the abuse that I cop every day, from mostly UK (fans).
But I still cop “You’re a drugs cheat”, “You’re this, you’re that” every day, it’s just something that I’ve had to endure, and deal with so to speak. It has made me very much mentally stronger, but at the same time I’ve kept learning with (trainer) Rodney (Williams), and whatever I have learnt, I’ve kept using in Perth when I was over there.
Every time I’m with Rod, we do something different and better. So we are learning, both of us, and we’re getting better at the same time, so it’s great.
And for someone who came into this game relatively late, I guess you feel like you’ve still got a fair bit of improvement in you?
Oh, well and truly. I’m scratching the surface, in regards to what people learn in the amateurs, you know what I mean? I can throw a punch and take a punch, but it’s being able to do all that while I’m getting hit and obviously landing yours in the process. It’s really the art of boxing, which I’m learning at the moment.
In part 2, hear Lucas’ memories of the fateful trip to Chechnya, his plans for the future, and his take on the renaissance of boxing.
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