Team Browne Demanding Clarity on Chagaev Title Shot
Apr 29, 2015 • 10:55 AM ET
By Jake Donovan
Lucas Browne and his team attempted to be cooperative in regards to a due title shot versus secondary heavyweight titlist Ruslan Chagaev. With patience now exhausted, the time has come for Chagaev and his handlers to no longer hold up progress.
“Lucas was made mandatory by an official notification of the WBA Championship Committee on the 24th February this year,” noted a recent statement from the press office of Browne's promoter, Hatton Promotions. “However Chagaev's team explicitly stated that they wished their boxer to make an optional defence first on the 24th of April 2015 in Germany as they had a TV commitment confirmed for this specific date.
“This was agreed on the basis that Lucas received financial compensation to "step aside", with a view to the mandatory contest still happening this summer.”
Obviously, April 24 has come and gone, without a fight featuring Chagaev (33-2-1, 20KOs). The two-time heavyweight titlist from Russia hasn't fought since his controversial bout with Fres Oquendo last summer. The win was debatable, but more so the circumstances surrounding the disorganized event in general.
Nine months later, Chagaev continues to hold the belt hostage while keeping his challengers waiting on the sidelines.
“It's been 5 months since my last fight. The fight was against a journeyman and I've been working my ass off since,” notes Browne (22-0, 19KOs), Chagaev's mandatory challenger. “I’m in the best shape of my life at the moment and have been specifically training and sparring southpaws.”
Unless Chagaev's plans are confirmed instantaneously, the next step will be for Browne's team to secure its overdue title shot in light of promises not being kept. As the brass at Hatton Promotions notes, “Lucas would love to be preparing for the opportunity to become Australia's first ever heavyweight world champion next month, but at this time it’s Chagaev's voluntary defence that is holding matters up.
“Hatton Promotions will be making further contact with the WBA this week to clarify any next steps and establish whether a purse bid will be ordered for the eagerly anticipated Chagaev v Browne match-up. As it stands that optional defence has been delayed and is now mooted for June 27. Lucas is more than willing to face Chagaev at any time and claims online that he was unable to honour a May 22 date are untrue.”
As for Browne, the unbeaten heavyweight just needs to know the time and place so he can prepare for his first title shot.
“I'm waiting for a date so I can go into a camp and come out the other end a demolition machine,” insists Browne.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
