Australian heavyweight Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne 26-1 (23) rebounded from his first career loss with a comprehensive third round knockout of Julius ‘Towering Inferno’ Long 18-21 (14) at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia on Friday night.
The 39-year-old former bouncer from Perth, who defeated Ruslan Chagaev by knockout to claim a minor version of the WBA world title in two years ago, was having his first fight back after his disastrous sixth round knockout loss at the hands of British contender Dillian Whyte at London’s O2 Arena in March.
“Credit to Julius, he really came to fight. He’s such a big awkward guy and he uses his advantages really well,” said Browne of his 7-foot-1 opponent.
“I knew once I caught him the fight was over and it’s always nice to get the stoppage.”
Browne connected with a big right cross in the third round to end proceedings. Long was docked a point in the second round for excessive holding.
It was revealed the day before the fight that Browne was open to a bout with former world title challenger Alex Leapai and is willing to accept $60,000 to make the fight.
But the Logan ‘Lionheart’ isn’t the only offer on the table. Back in the UK, where Browne has fought six times, there’s been talk of facing one of British boxing’s leading prospects.
“There’s been some talk about David Allen in the UK too. I’ve always loved fighting over there and would love to come back over and make amends for my fight against Dillian Whyte,” said Browne.
“And here in Australia, there’s talk about Alex Leapai, which would be a great fight for Aussie boxing.”
The Long fight was a rematch of Browne’s KO9 victory over the American giant in 2015.
