Marcus Browne negotiating fight with Kovalev for June

Boxingnews24.com

By Jim Dower

Light heavyweight contender Marcus Browne (21-0, 16 KOs) appears to have decided not to take an IBF ordered fight against IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs), and instead use his #1 ranking with the World Boxing Organization to face WBO 175 lb. champion Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs) instead. Browne, 27, is in negotiations with Kovalev’s promoters at Main Events for a fight on June.

The International Boxing Federation ordered negotiations between Beterbiev, 32, and Browne to begin immediately with a purse big scheduled soon if the two sides were unable to come to an agreement. It was thought by many fans that Browne would decline to take the fight with Beterbiev, as he’s not shown the same vulnerabilities that Kovalev has.

Browne would stand a better chance of beating the 34-year-old Kovalev than he would the 33-year-old Beterbiev. Kovalev has lost 2 out of his last 4 fights since 2017. Kovalev’s stamina and ability to take body shots is limited. Browne will have a better chance of beating Kovalev than he would Beterbiev, who is dangerous on the inside, and not shown stamina problems. Browne would be making a mistake to try and fight Beterbiev on the inside the way Andre Ward did with Kovalev.

For Browne and his manager Al Haymon to be going after Kovalev, they must see him as the weaker of the two champions. Beterbiev would have been a nightmare for the 2012 U.S Olympian Browne, as he really struggled in his fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic in winning a controversial 8 round split decision in April 2016. Boxing News 24 scored that fight for Kalajdzic. He got the better of Browne and had him close to being knocked out. Kovalev is a bigger puncher than Kalajdzic. If Kovalev can get to Browne’s chin early, this fight could be over within one or two rounds. Browne has a really shaky chin.

It’s too bad for Beterbiev that Browne has decided not to face him. This would have given the 2-time Russian Olympian Beterbiev a great chance to fight his first talented opponent of his 5-year pro career. Beterbiev has not faced good enough opposition to take his career to the next level. Beterbiev was in the position to face Andre Ward when he held the IBF 175 lb. title last year, but he chose to vacate the belt and retire. So instead of Beterbiev getting an excellent fight against Ward, he was stuck facing German fighter Enrico Koelling for the vacant IBF 175 lb. title last November. Beterbiev dominated Koelling in stopping him in the 12th round to win the IBF strap. Since then, Beterbiev has been inactive and dealing with promotional issues.

Where this leaves Beterbiev is unclear. With Browne going in the direction of a fight with Kovalev, it means the IBF will need to move down the list of contenders with their organization. The next highest ranked contender after Browne is 39-year-old Juergen Braehmer. The German southpaw fighter could be a tough opponent for Beterbiev. Braehmer is a really boxer, and a former light heavyweight champion.

Beterbiev would need to cut off the ring on Braehmer and fight at a much faster pace than he did against Koelling last November. Beterbiev was fighting at a very slow pace in that fight, and he let drag on far longer than it should have. If Bterbiev fights like that against Braehmer, he’ll lose the fight.

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