Marcus Browne Eyes Return on Garcia-Salka Card

By Rick Reeno

Light heavyweight prospect Marcus Browne (11-0, 8KOs) was looking forward to a ShoBox televised showcase on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

A few days before the fight, Browne was informed that veteran opponent Yusaf Mack (31-7-2, 17KOs) had failed his pre-fight medical and he was immediately removed from the bout by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

"I was honestly just disappointed because I worked so hard for Yusaf Mack and that was my coming out party. We worked hard. Regardless of who they put in there, we're going to take care of it. We worked so hard and I didn't want this camp to go in vain. I just want to thank Al Haymon," Browne told BoxingScene.com.

Lucikly, a late replacement was secured in the form of Donta Woods (8-3). That was the good news. The bad news - Browne was downgraded to the non-televised portion of the card. Nobody could argue with Showtime's decision, as Browne blew away Woods in half a round. Although highlights of the fight were shown during the ShoBox telecast.

If all goes well, Browne expects to return on August 9th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. If Mack is medically cleared, Browne would love to face him on the show. The card is headlined by Danny Garcia's defense of the WBA/WBC 140-pound titles against Rod Salka.

"I want a step up fight. That's where we're heading, to make my name in boxing and we need guys like that to go through the ranks. If Yusaf Mack gets healthy, I want to fight him," Browne said.