LUCAS BROWNE has fired back at rivals keen to gain publicity off the back of his stunning WBA heavyweight title victory over Ruslan Chagaev.
The heavy-handed Sydney man wrote his name into the history books when he KOed the tough Uzbek to become Australia’s first ever world champion in the heavyweight division last weekend.
And while most in the boxing fraternity are happy for him, it appears that some heavyweights have become embittered and jealous.
Showtime yesterday announced a string of upcoming fights set for the summer and one of these match-ups caught the eye of any discerning fan of a slugfest: the June 11th Ruslan Provodnikov-John Molina Junior clash. Provodnikov – who will be making his Showtime network TV debut – against Molina Junior will surely feature plenty of drama, for however long the light-welterweight shootout lasts.
MONTREAL (March 11) – Fighters David Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs) and James de la Rosa (23-3, 13 KOs) weighed in at 165.6 pounds and 162 pounds respectively today at their official weigh-in from the Casino de Montreal. Lemieux, who came in 2.6 pounds overweight from the contracted weight of 163 pounds, had Canadian co-promoter and manager, Camille Estephan, negotiate with De La Rosa’s camp to try to reach an agreement.
Boxing superstar Gennady Golovkin returns exclusively live to BoxNation on Saturday 23rd April when he defends his unified world titles against top undefeated contender Dominic Wade at the Fabulous Forum, Los Angeles.
The pound-for-pound great is back on the The Channel of Champions, headlining an awesome April of fistic entertainment that features Golovkin’s big rival Billy Joe Saunders – with both heading towards a seismic collision this year – defending his WBO World Middleweight title against “Mad” Max Burbank on Saturday 30th April, live from the Copper Box Arena, London.
In a disappointing turn of events, middleweight star David Lemieux failed to make weight for tomorrow night’s fight against James De La Rosa. The fight, agreed for a catch-weight of 163-pounds, fell apart when Lemieux came in at a heavy 165.6-pounds – really nowhere close to the agreed poundage.
De La Rosa, no doubt disgusted, walked away and refused to negotiate any deal with Lemieux that would allow the fight to go ahead with Lemieux at the higher weight. De La Rosa made weight. Lemiuex was hoping to bounce back from his October defeat to Gennady Golovkin but now he faces an unknown immediate future.
Brooklyn’s Jarrell Miller injured his shoulder in his last fight, an impressive 7th-round stoppage of Donovan Dennis in January, yet the fast-talking, hard-hitting heavyweight who has been compared by some to the great Riddick Bowe, will not need a long layoff. Miller, 16-0-1(14) will face Romanian Razvan Cojanu on May 27th in Niagara Falls, New York, Miller’s co-promoter Greg Cohen told RingTV.com.
Miller, a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer, has plenty of talent, he is a great interview and, perhaps most importantly for a heavyweight who wishes to be fan-friendly, he can whack. Miller, with his unusual nickname of “Big Baby,” is one of the most interesting of the current young, unbeaten U.S heavyweights.
Puerto Rican great Miguel Cotto will fight again on June 18th at The Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York; the only question – quite a big one – is who will the former four-weight ruler face? There has been talk of Cotto facing everyone from Juan Manuel Marquez to Andy Lee, and the latest rumour circulating on a number of boxing web sites says Cotto, 40-5(33) and coming off a competitive points loss to the much bigger and younger Canelo Alvarez, will face Texan slugger James Kirkland in June.
Jürgen Brähmer (Deutschland): 79,0 kg / 174.2 lbs
Eduard Gutknecht (Deutschland): 78,7 kg / 173.5 lb
Artur Mann (Deutschland): 90,7 kg / 200 lbs
Björn Blaschke (Deutschland): 89,5 kg / 197.3 lbs
Braehmer and Gutknecht exchange words
Beginning with underdog Tyson Fury’s points win over a long dominant Wladimir Klitschko last November, the heavyweight division has seen a major shake-up. We currently have five fighters claiming at least a portion of the heavyweight title. The unbeaten Fury is recognized as THE champion – the man who beat the man and all that – but who is the best heavyweight today?
We’ve seen new talent aside from Fury crowned with a strap: Charles Martin, also unbeaten, and Cuban banger Luis Ortiz, himself sporting a perfect record recently being crowned. Added to these two is Lucas Browne, who made history as the first-ever Australian to hold a version of the heavyweight crown this past Saturday, with his thrilling win over Ruslan Chagaev.
The StubHub Center in Carson, California has been home to some of the most epic fights of this era and on Saturday, June 4 another chapter will be added to its action-packed history. Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas (23-0-1, 17 KOs), fresh from his Fight of the Year victory over Takashi Miura, will defend his WBC Super Featherweight World Title for the first time against fellow Mexican warrior and former three-time world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido (43-13-3, 30 KOs, 1 NC) in a 12-round Fight of the Year candidate televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark®.