Australian Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne earned a 5th Rd TKO over Canadian Eric Behoeli to claim the Commonwealth Heavyweight Title in Sheffield overnight.
Browne dropped his opponent three times during the fight but sustained an ugly cut over his left eye from a head clash which threatened to end the contest.
“I was a bit worried about the looping shots, the lefts and the rights and I ducked under one but caught a head clash at the same time, so I knew I had to have a sense of urgency in it and speed it up a little bit,” said Browne, who becomes the first Aussie in over a century to win the Commonwealth title.
“I like breaking people’s wills down – I know I’ve got the power to do it – and it was just a matter of landing that first one and making sure he went down and no doubt he was thinking about the power from then on.”
The head clash, which occurred in the third round, was serious enough for the ringside doctor to be called several times but Browne wasn’t initially concerned.
“To be honest it wasn’t too bad, it was going into the side of my eye which I was very happy with,” said Browne.
“I thought it was fine, but they told me it’s not. During the fight I thought it was OK, but I now know better.”
The first round was even but Browne, the heavy favourite, dropped the Canadian fighter with devastating right with a minute left in the second. Bahoeli beat the count and Browne maintained a cautious distance for the remaining 45 seconds of the round.
Action continued in the third with a head clash opening a nasty looking cut on Browne’s left eye. The doctor was called to the ropes as Browne’s corner hurried to stem the bleeding as much as possible. Despite their efforts in between rounds, it didn’t look good for the Australian as a dark welt appeared and a steady, thin stream of red ran down his face.
The ref asked the doc to have another look at the wound midway through the fourth round and judging by what happened next, you expect it was the last warning he’d get for the night.
The doctor said fight on and, like red rag to a bull, Browne went on the rampage.
Mauling, scragging and bruising his opponent, Big Baddy swung wildly with both hands and had Bahoeli reeling in the corner and almost falling through the ropes. The Canadian maintained his balance and resumed his fighting stance but was promptly knocked to the canvas for the second time in the bout.
He beat the count again and slipped with a couple of seconds left but still gamely fought back in the face of a severe onslaught.
Browne looked puffed sitting in his corner at the end of the round as his team redoubled its efforts on the cut again. He’s never gone the distance and no one expected this fight to, but with Bahoeli focusing on the left eye and the officials wary of letting the fight continue, it seemed even money for an upset before the start of the fifth.
But he came out firing and another serious flurry sent Bahoeli to his the canvas, curled over his knees in the corner and unable to regain his feet.
“I was pushing the pace,” said Browne.
“They pretty much told me I had one more round to go, so I was lucky enough to be able to have a second round to finish it off.”
While the 35-year old admitted he wasn’t the best technical fighter in the world, he believes his immense power ought to attract bigger fights in the future against the likes of Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury.
“I’m not silly enough to think I have the most talent out of everyone – know that for a fact,” he said.
“It’s the fact that I do hit like a mule and if I get you it’s good night. I rely on the fact that my fitness is getting better, my technique’s getting better and my power is always going to be there.”
It was a sentiment echoed by promoter Ricky Hatton ringside after the bout.
“Look at the heavyweight division, there’s a crop of heavyweights now – there’s a lot in our country,” said the former World Champion.
“And I don’t think that they’ve got any better chance than Lucas Browne has. He hits like that, you know his limitations but the heavyweight division is wide open and he’s got as good a chance as anybody.”
