VIDEO: Big Daddy chases win No.21
UPDATE: Australian heavyweight hope Lucas Browne hunts his 21st straight victory when he takes on fellow unbeaten boxer Andriy Rudenko this Saturday morning (WA time).
Browne is being touted as Australia's next world heavyweight title challenger, following Alex Leapai's unsuccessful tilt earlier this year, and victory over Rudenko (24-0) in Wolverhampton, England, will have him closing in on the top five in the rankings of the WBC, WBA and IBF.
VIDEO: LUCAS BROWNE ANSWERS FANS' QUESTIONS BELOW
It has been a rapid rise for Browne, one of three Australian boxers backed by UK promoter Ricky Hatton.
He became Australia's first Commonwealth heavyweight champion since 1892 after beating Richard Towers last October and has since been linked with a fight against top UK heavyweight Tyson Fury, although Browne says that is more likely to take place next year.
The 35-year-old fought most of his career out of Perth before moving back to Sydney earlier this year. He is now trained by Aussie boxing great Jeff Fenech.
“I’ve improved slowly but surely. There are still things I need to work on, but Jeff has been helping me with head movement and stability so I think people are going to see something a little different in this fight,” Browne said.
“He’s also got me working on putting my punches together more. Anyone I can hit I can hurt, but I know in the past that’s meant I’ve gone out looking to land one shot at a time. Jeff has got me thinking more about my shots and I think that will give me the edge in this fight.
“Jeff was a world champion at three different weights so he knows what needs to be done in the run up to a fight and he’s helped me improve my fitness so if I have to go 12 rounds with Rudenko, it won’t be a problem.
“Obviously, I’d love to win by knockout, but it isn’t something I’m going to go in there looking for. If it comes, it comes.”
The Brown-Rudenko fight was originally to be shown live on Eurosport Australia but that has fallen through because of a scheduling issue.
