RICHARD TOWERS is ending his friendship with fellow unbeaten heavyweight Lucas Browne for one night only.
The pair meet in an eagerly anticipated final eliminator for the Commonwealth title and while they may be pals outside of the ring, inside it they’ll be fighting like arch-enemies.
Last year, they spent time training together at Brendan Ingle’s legendary gym in Wincobank, Sheffield and have stayed in touch ever since.
“We spent a lot of time together. We didn’t just spar, I took him to my house, I cooked for him and we got to know each other,” Towers, 14-0 (11 KOs), recalled.
“He’s a really wonderful guy, but we both know this is business and he’s going to try and take my head off like I’m going to try and take his off.
“I feel very privileged to be going over to Australia and, with the kindest regard, I’ll be looking to look to put Lucas to sleep.”
Despite the two competitors having similar records, Towers accepts that he’s travelling to the other side of the world as an underdog.
Browne does into the contest on the back of three wins in the past eight months, including a 12 round decision over American legend James Toney, while Towers hasn’t boxed since his thriller with Frenchman Gregory Tony in June last year.
“It’s been more than a year, but I’ve had a lot of sparring and I’ve been in the gym every day so I’ve done everything I can to do to be in the best shape possible,” the 6ft 8ins Sheffield-native said.
“Trust me, I’m as ready as I’ve been and this fight isn’t going to go the way people think it’s going to go because, put it this way, I’m not going all the way to Australia to come back empty handed.”
