WHYTE vs BROWNE
The Whytebrowne fight is layered with controversy and bad taste, but also intrigue and importance, writes
Previewing the controversial grudge match that has a lot riding on it
TWO wrongs, we’re told, don’t make a right. Yet, in the case of Saturday’s (March 24) controversial heavyweight clash between Brixton’s Dillian Whyte and Australia’s Lucas Browne, let’s hope they do. Inside the ring, Whyte and Browne have barely put a foot wrong. Whyte has suffered one defeat – a seventhround stoppage loss to Anthony Joshua in December 2015 – while Browne has managed to remain unscathed through 25 professional fights. They are both highly ranked with various sanctioning bodies, and the winner of this will be right in line for a shot at Deontay Wilder’s WBC heavyweight title.
But, while on paper everything seems above board, it’s true that there’s more to this pairing than meets the eye, and it would be remiss to analyse their fight at Greenwich’s O2 Arena without mentioning the bad and the ugly before getting to the good.
The bad – discussed by Whyte and Browne during an unsavoury press conference in January – is this: Whyte, back in October 2012, tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine, found in a nutritional supplement, and was hit with a two-year drug ban, which he served. Browne, meanwhile, failed two PED tests in 2016. He failed a test for clenbuterol, a fat-burning drug, following a March stoppage win over Ruslan Chagaev, and then, eight months later (having completed a six-month ban), failed a VADA (Voluntary Antidoping Association) test for ostarine, a drug used to improve lean muscle mass and endurance. This meant Browne, in total, was out of action for 15 months. He returned last June to stop Matthew Greer in two rounds.
The ugly: the one time Whyte and Browne shared the same space, at the aforementioned press conference, the overall feeling was one of discomfort. Not only that, the pair’s childish putdowns are unoriginal – often not even making sense – and their bad blood, rather than manufactured or cleverly designed to sell tickets, is the kind that has no place being boiled in public. The sooner they fight, the better.
Which brings us to the good: boxing,
by its very nature, gives these reformed characters an outlet to vent their frustration, get productive with their hate, and ultimately earn forgiveness doing the thing they do best. For if you can accept the fact Whyte and Browne have previously wronged, whether knowingly or unknowingly, and have now done their time, you can look forward to what could be a thoroughly decent scrap between heavyweights who can both whack and whose disdain for one another may bubble up and produce something special.
Browne, now 38, has taken the unbeaten records of Andriy Rudenko and Richard Towers, both in the UK, and really impressed during his 10th-round stoppage of Chagaev. It was a result later tarnished (Browne maintains his innocence and says he passed a test five days before the fight), but, at the time, Browne showed he could box and move a bit, get off the floor to win, and that his power, responsible for 22 knockouts from 25 wins, stays with him late into the fight. More than that, he showed he could defeat a world-class operator and do so on foreign soil.
What a shame, then, that this careerbest victory now comes with an asterisk.
Mind you, redemption is not impossible. Twenty-nine-year-old Whyte, 22-1 (16), has proven that since serving his ban. He shared a brawl with Joshua, handing the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion the first crisis of his pro career in round two, and then cemented his own place in the division with solid points wins against the likes of Dereck Chisora and Robert Helenius.
Interestingly, the Chisora war also followed months of nastiness and upended furniture. It was nearly called off. It perhaps should have been called off. But, once the first bell rang, the two Londoners showed there was more to them than ham-fisted hype and empty threats. They showed there was substance, too, and the fight, their 36-minute apology to the boxing world, did a wonderful job of making us forget all that preceded it.
The hope this weekend is that Whyte and Browne do something similar, and that, come Sunday morning, we remember them less for past misdemeanours and more for the entertainment they provided at the O2 Arena. A positive of the right kind.
If the fight delivers, Browne certainly has the power – as well as the straighter, sharper punching – to end Whyte’s pursuit of a Joshua rematch and finish him in the final third. But the safer bet is that Browne succumbs to the younger man’s work rate, gets outhustled down the stretch and loses a close one on the scorecards over 12.
A couple of intriguing British title matches support the heavyweights. At lightweight, Lewis Ritson defends his Lonsdale Belt against former champion
Scott Cardle and does so just four weeks after putting it on the line against Joe Murray in Manchester.
Forest Hall’s Ritson folded Murray in a round that night; a result that meant he was available for a quick turnaround; a result that encouraged many to sit up and take notice.
Lytham St Annes’ Cardle, meanwhile, is Ritson’s trickiest opponent to date and might be mobile enough to take him rounds and give him a headache or two. But once Ritson, 14-0 (8), gets to grips with his style and slows him down, the likelihood is he stops Cardle, 22-1-1 (7), for the first time in his pro career. The bout between light-heavyweights
Frank Buglioni and Callum Johnson has been a long time coming and is closer to call.
Enfield’s Buglioni, 21-2-1 (15), since toppling Hosea Burton to become British champion, has won decisions against Ricky Summers and Craig Richards, grown in stature with a title to his name, and developed a knack for removing the zero from undefeated prospects.
What’s more, eight-year pro Johnson, like Burton, Summers and Richards before him, is someone whose unbeaten record – 16-0 (11) – reflects a need to step up in class rather than any great dominance. This, in fact, is his chance, the first proper fight in a slowburning career (the Boston, Lincolnshire man hasn’t boxed since winning the Commonwealth title in September 2016), and the worry is that the jump from journeymen to an improving champion, someone accustomed to winning at this level, will be too much. Buglioni, the one with momentum, should prevail on the cards.
THE VERDICT The Whyte-browne winner will find themselves in prime position for a world title shot.