Australian heavyweight Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne (21-0) plans on becoming the first man to knock tough New Zealander Chauncy Welliver (55-8-5) off his feet when the pair clash on Nov., 12.
The Antipodean challenge sees unbeaten Browne boxes Welliver over 12 rounds on the undercard of Anthony Mundine v Sergey Rabchenko bill at the Hisense Arena, Melbourne on November 12. Ranked in the top ten by three of the four main sanctioning bodies, the fight presents a potential banana skin for Browne.
”I can’t wait to get in there and put on a great performance. People love heavyweight boxing because of the one punch factor. I believe I’ve got the heaviest hands in the sport and the fans seem to enjoy that,” Browne said. ”Chauncy has a very good record and I’m told he’s never been knocked off his feet. He’s also been highly ranked before. I’ve got plenty of respect for him, but nothing is going to get between me and the goals I have set for myself.
“I’m ecstatic to be on this huge card headlined by my stablemate Sergey Rabchenko. This is another step towards my goal of becoming Australia’s first ever heavyweight world champion. November 12 is going to be a big night of boxing!”
Browne came through his toughest test to date when he outpointed the previously unbeaten Ukrainian Andriy Rudenko in August. The victory boosted his rankings with the WBA and WBC to number five and six respectively and promoter Ricky Hatton is sure that a title shot is on the horizon.
”This fight with Welliver reminds me a bit of when I fought Ray Oliveira before the Kostya Tsyzu fight because it’s a massive risk and could cost a world title shot,” Hatton said.
“My situation was a little bit different because I was already mandatory challenger, but Lucas really isn’t far away from getting his dream of a shot at the heavyweight crown and he really can’t afford a slip up at this stage.
“Welliver looks like a big and dangerous guy so Lucas needs to make sure he comes in fully focused and in the best shape possible. ”With Lucas’s power I can’t see anything other than a knockout win, to be honest. Once this fight is won, myself and my team can start looking at getting him a world title opportunity in the New Year.”
