Former world heavyweight champion Lucas Browne made a comeback on Friday and duly got back to knocking people out.
The 39 year-old returned in a homecoming bout against Julius Long six months on from his disappointing UK showing.
‘Big Daddy’ was dropped and stopped badly by Dillian Whyte at The O2 and has since admitted he wasn’t properly prepared.
After shedding the pounds and looking ripped against Long, Browne was back at his impressive best.
It didn’t take Browne any time at all to find the target and the writing seemed on the wall for Long early on.
Despite Long attempting spoiling tactics, deductions in the first and second saw the American open to punishment.
Connecting with big, clean shots, Browne was able to end the fight painfully in the third.
It was an improvement from their last meeting in 2015, which Browne won in the ninth session.
ABROAD
Manager Matt Clark was happy with Browne’s performance and hopes for sterner tests to come.
“There’s no doubt about it, Long came to fight. He leaned on Lucas plenty and at seven foot one he’s awkward.
“But it was a beautiful one-punch KO right hand straight down the pipe by Lucas and the fight was over.
“Now for what is next. There’s been talk about possibly going back to the UK to face Dave Allen.
“We’d also be very open to facing Adam Kownacki in the States. It would be an action packed fight.”
Despite reports of a possible clash with compatriot Alex Leapai, Clark seemed to be intent on taking Browne abroad.
“Allen or Kownacki are the goals, the fights we are focused on. Hopefully either can happen next,” he added.
Browne now holds a record of 26-1 following his 23rd career knockout and looks in good shape for the tougher operators in the division.
