Lucas Browne knocks out Julius Long

IN a long-fought battle between two giants, Australian heavyweight Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne has delivered with a solid round nine knockout.

UNDEFEATED Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne has rounded out his Footy Show Fight Night clash against American Julius Long with a hefty round nine knockout.

With a pre-match record of 22 wins and 19 knockouts, Browne was a strong favourite to dominate the fight, but struggled to gain the upper hand over the giant 216cm-tall American.

Standing at 193cm himself, Browne is no small fighter, but was heavily dwarfed by his challenger. The nine-and-a-half round fight was a true case of Goliath v Goliath, as the two giants tirelessly tried to slug each other right until the last punch.

With 10 seconds remaining in the second last round, Long turned his head into a strong left hook from Browne, dropping the 38-year-old to the canvas.

Lucas Browne knocks out Julius Long. https://t.co/KnYQiXmskt

— Alex McClintock (@axmcc) August 14, 2015

Speaking after the fight, Browne claimed to have broken his thumb in the first round, attributing his lack of match control to the injury.

“I think I broke my thumb with the first punch I threw at him with my right, so I wasn’t able to do much with my right all night,” he said.

Browne also thanked his competitor for testing him. “I needed the rounds, its my first fight in 9 months so I needed the rounds.”

Commentators attributed the lengthy fight to a lack of preparation on the part of both fighters, given Browne’s scheduled competition Gonzalo Basile withdrew with one weeks notice.

Calling the fight for Channel 9, WBC Silver Super Welterweight champion Anthony Mundine managed to completely discredit his commentating career by forgetting the simple detail of Long’s country of origin.

“He’s put on a great effort, considering he was given a weeks notice and flew out from — wherever he come from — he’s put in a great effort,” Mundine said.

Fans weren’t convinced with Browne’s performance, as some felt he was pushed too hard by a fighter with a relatively mediocre record.

That was a very unconvincing performance by Lucas Browne. #FootyShowFightNight

— Elijah (@ElijahLing) August 14, 2015

I hope Lucas Browne isn't trying to get a fight with the top heavyweights in the world he would get smashed

— matt campbell (@kake33) August 14, 2015

Lucas Browne looks awful @joeboxerparker blows him outta the ring in 1rd if it ever happens

— DeadlyBoxing (@TappaBoxing) August 14, 2015

I'd put my house on @hughiefury giving Lucas Browne an absolute beating after watching what Long did to Browne @peterfury

— Dan Kelman (@DJKELMAN) August 14, 2015

Will Tomlinson won a majority decision in the main event — an important comeback win after a loss to Francisco Vargas in March, while Jai Opetaia, who became our youngest ever boxing Olympian in London as a 17-year-old, dismantled 39-year-old three-fight novice Rob Manual to notch his second pro victory. He promptly declared that he would fight “anyone” in the cruiserweight division.