Lucas Browne destroys Julius Long, calls out Kownacki and Dave Allen

Boxingnews24.com

By Allan Fox: Former WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne (26-1, 23 KOs) knocked out 41-year-old journeyman Julius Long (18-21, 14 KOs) last Friday night, and then called out heavyweights Adam Kownacki and David Allen for his next fight.

It was a good bounce back victory for Browne, who had been knocked out in the sixth round in his last fight against Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte on March 24 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Fighting at home at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, in Broadbeach, Australia, the 39-year-old Browne landed a short right hand to the head of Long that sent him down on the canvas for a knockout last Friday. Browne was trapped against the ropes at the time, taking shots from the 7-foot Long. It didn’t look good for Browne at the time, as he was pinned to the ropes by the hulking 311 pound Long, who nailed him with a tremendous right-hand elbow. Somehow, Browne stayed on his feet after taking the elbow to his face. Browne threw a right hand that he threw blindly without seeing the target, but the shot landed perfectly on the chin of the unsuspecting Browne, causing him to fold like an accordion. Any heavyweight in the division would have been dropped by that shot from Browne, as it was thrown with major power. Long never saw the shot coming, and that made it even worse. Getting hit by a fighter with Browne’s kind of power was too much for Long to take.

Browne came into the fight with Long looking in good shape at 256 pounds, and in far better condition than his previous fight against Dillian Whyte last March. That should have been the fight where Browne was in the best condition of his life, but for some reason he looked out of condition.

Browne is going to need to start out fast for him to beat Kownacki, because this guy punches hard and he has the kind of power to end a fight early if he’s facing a slow starter. Browne started slowly against Long, and made the fight tougher than it should have been. He can’t do that against the 29-year-old Kownacki.

Adam Kownacki (18-0, 14 KOs) is rated 10 WBC and #12 IBF. A win over Kownacki would push Browne back up the rankings. It would be a tough fight though, as Kownacki is coming off of a 10 round unanimous decision win over former former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin earlier this month on September 8 in Brooklyn, New York. It was a good victory for Kownacki. The Poland born Kownacki has recent victories over Iago Kiladze and Artur Szpilka.

Dave Allen (14-4-2, 11 KOs) is a winnable fight for Browne, since this guy is a domestic level fighter with heavy hands and stamina problems. Allen is coming off of a career bet win in stopping the big 6’5″ Nick Webb in the 4th round last July. Allen looked terrible in the first three rounds, but then he suddenly came on strong in the 4th round and dropped Webb. The fight was then halted. In Allen’s fight before that, he was totally dominated by 2016 Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka in losing a 10th round knockout last June. Allen was beaten by journeyman Lenroy Thomas by a 12 round split decision last year in May. Browne would likely have too much power for Thomas.