By: Hans Themistode
The Light Heavyweight division is flooded with talent. Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Sergey Kovalev, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev are all belt holders in the division. With the exception of Kovalev they are all undefeated as well.
Rising contenders such as Badou Jack, Eleider Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez are also highly thought of within the division. The list of contenders and champions gets mighty long before we reach the name Marcus Browne.
The current WBA interim champion has an unsullied record at 23-0 and the personalty that should allow him to be easy to promote. He has managed to run through his competition with ease. That statement does however, come with a bit of caveat. Browne has spent the majority of his career facing mostly obscure opponents.
Browne has recently proven that he does belong with some of the elite of division. In 2017, it took him only two rounds to dispatch of the previously undefeated Sean Monaghan.
He has since followed that up with an impressive win over former two division champion Badou Jack. It was in that very fight where Browne knew he belonged.
“I always knew that I was a great fighter, but that fight allowed the world to see just how great I truly am,” said Browne. “It was a tough fight and Badou proved that he was a warrior that night so I tip my cap to him.”
Many believe that his contest against Jack was his coming out party. Still, even with the WBA interim title around his waist, Browne continues to get little credit for the sort of performance he put on that night. He will once again have another opportunity to prove his doubters wrong as he will take on multiple time champion Jean Pascal.
At age 36 and fresh off a defeat against WBA belt holder Dmitry Bivol, Browne is fully aware that Pascal is in a desperate situation.
“He needs this win. I know that he doesn’t want to have back to back losses at this stage in his career but that is exactly what is going to happen. He’s a great fighter and I respect everything that he has done in this sport but I’m not losing.”
Browne has said repeatedly that he is fully focused on just this fight. However, with pound for pound star Canelo Alvarez recently making headlines about his venture into Browne’s division, he made it clear that if he was given the chance he would welcome it with open arms.
“Canelo don’t want any problems with me. The only reason he keeps mentioning Kovalev is because he sees the chinks in his armor. I don’t think he wants any of the problems that I come with.”
With his fight now just a few days away, Browne is keeping his eyes on the prize.
“I would love to stop Pascal. Only Kovalev has been able to do it so of course I would love to get it done myself but I’m not focusing on that. As long as I get the victory, I’ll be happy. That’s the most important thing.”