Former WBA heavyweight title holder Lucas Browne says he no longer has an interest in fighting unbeaten English champion Fabio Wardley.
The duo were slated to meet each other last year but terms could not be finalised with the Ipswich man recently stating there was now a March deadline for a fight to be agreed.
Australian Browne, previously KOed by Dillian Whyte and Dave Allen in the UK, insists he has moved on, having signed a two-fight deal with Aussie promoter Dean Lonergan that will include a bout against hot prospect Justis Huni (2-0, 2 KOs).
“Fabio, that ship has sailed mate,” Browne (29-2, 25 KOs) told BoxingScene. “We were due to fight last year but after being sent the bout agreement, Matchroom were unable to fly me home to Perth. They could only fly me to Melbourne and quarantine there for two weeks and then after that fly to Perth and quarantine there for another two weeks. That’s the equivalent of quarantining in Istanbul when you’re trying to get to London.
“They wanted me to drop the number of people coming over with me and, in the end, we pulled the plug. It was meant to be rescheduled and it all went quiet. With what’s happening in the world with this pandemic, I’ve moved on.”
Rising contender Wardley (10-0, 9 KOs) recently recovered from a bout of Covid-19, which left him with a severe headache, and Browne’s manager Matt Clark mischievously claimed the Ipswich hope would have experienced much worse against the seasoned Aussie.
“I see Fabio was complaining about his headache from Covid, he’s lucky he doesn’t have Lucas Browne dropping right hands on his dome, then he’d know what a headache is,” Clark told BoxingScene. “Fabio has nothing Lucas wants at this stage. He’s happy using his name for publicity without having to fight him.
“He’s achieved very little but talks like he’s world champion. He’s insinuated on social media that Browne is afraid of him [but] Lucas travelled to Grozny to beat Ruslan Chagaev. He’s hardly going to lose sleep about facing Wardley in Eddie Hearn’s backyard, but there’s a pandemic going on and we’re looking forward to having Browne compete in front of Aussie audiences.”
