Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne has received some words of advice from heavyweight legend Larry Holmes ahead of his WBA title clash with Ruslan Chagaev on March 5.
The Easton Assassin was one of the sport’s dominant forces in the late 1970s and early 1980s, beating big names such as Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers and the greatest of them all, Muhammad Ali.
Today he is busy managing his numerous businesses and investments, but he still had time to give some pointers to the hard-hitting Aussie.
“All you have to do is keep the jab going,” Holmes told Browne. “Stick it in his face as quick as possible and as often as possible.
“When you see it working, bring that big right hand in. That’s all I can tell you. Enjoy yourself and best of luck.”
Browne has the chance to make history next month as Australia has never had a world champion in the heavyweight division.
And he has number of boxing luminaries backing him for glory. As well as receiving advice from Holmes, he has had glowing endorsements from Hasim Rahman and Riddick Bowe. He also has English legends Ricky Hatton and Nigel Benn in his team.
“Getting advice from someone like Larry Holmes is the sort of thing that makes me have to pinch myself,” Lucas said.
“He’s one of the sport’s greatest fighters and although I’m not quite old enough to remember him in his pomp, I’ve spend countless hours watching his biggest fights back on video.
“It seems like every top level heavyweight in the world is backing me to beat Chagaev and I don’t want to let them down. I’m in the best shape of my career and I’m looking forward to doing all these great champions proud with a devastating performance on March 5.”
