Promoter Ricky Hatton has responded to claims from his boxer Lucas Browne that he has been avoiding him after the Australian heavyweight posted a video to social media recently claiming the Englishman had not replied to his emails.
Speaking on iFL TV, the former unified junior welterweight champion indicated he wants Browne to get back in peak mental and physical shape if he is serious about continuing his career at the top level.
“I’ve been contacting him via email, just to see where he’s at,” said Hatton. “Last time, he had his two-year ban, and unlike Tyson who has come in looking a million dollars, Lucas came in looking extremely overweight and out of shape and he had been very depressed at the time.
“He’d been on medication apparently which I didn’t know about. My job is to keep the boxers’ safe, that is any promoter’s job and Lucas is saying that he feels ready for a comeback fight but before I give it the thumbs up, I need to see where both his head and body are at.
“The fight against Dillian Whyte, I really fancied him to win but when he came over and I saw the condition he was in and the weight that he was, I started thinking otherwise.
“Hopefully he can get back on track, Lucas probably knows the reason why he put in the performance that he did, it was because he was too heavy, he was just too big and he also wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
“If he’s had a bit of time to go away and think about things there is no reason he can’t come back just like Tyson Fury. I’m just waiting to hear back from Australia, to see what kind of shape and condition he is in. We’ll go from there and see if we can get him back on track.”
