Aussies on the rise in 2017: Heavyweight to junior middleweight

Everybody loves a list and there’s no better time to create one than at the end of the calendar year. So, while most of you were sipping champagne and celebrating in the streets while fireworks lit up the night sky overhead, I was locked away in the lab with a pen and a pad putting together my list of Australian boxers to watch in 2017. In part one of this three-part series we look at the Aussie boxers, male or female, who we expect to make the biggest impact on the world stage in their respective weight division in the next year.

HEAVYWEIGHT: Lucas Browne 24-0 (21)

When 37-year-old Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne 24-0 (21) stopped southpaw Ruslan “White Tyson” Chagaev 34-3-1 (21) in 10 rounds in Grozny, Russia last March, not only did he become the WBA titleholder but also became Australia’s first ever heavyweight champion.

The world should have been his oyster.

But after a failed Voluntary Anti-Drug Association (VADA) test for clenbuterol that Team Browne claimed was the result of tainted food served at their Russian hotel, the WBA outed him from competition for six months. After his suspension was served, the WBA rewarded Browne with a shot at their vacant “regular” title against Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs, tentatively scheduled for sometime in December 2016. Of course boxing is never that cut and dried and after Browne allegedly failed another VADA drug test in November the fight against Briggs and his career had, for all intents and purposes, been put on hold.

Given these facts, Browne might seem like an unusual selection for my first fighter to watch in 2017. But there is method to my madness even if it’s not immediately obvious.

The reality is there’s not a lot of depth in Australia in boxing’s glamour division. After Browne, the next best heavyweight is 41-year-old former rugby league player, and Joseph Parker victim, Solomon Haumono 24-3-2 (21). After that, it’s daylight.

Back to Browne. Firstly, it remains to be seen whether he is found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs (PEDS). And secondly, with the history of light sanctions for PEDS in boxing, Browne may yet see action in 2017.

It is difficult to guess when we will next see Browne in the prize-fighting ring and even more difficult to guess against who. But my gut feel is that we will see the 260-pound behemoth back in action in the backend of 2017 in another world title eliminator. And with the WBA’s penchant for recycling fighters like Alexander Ustinov, Fres Oquendo, David Haye, Guillermo Jones and Briggs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Browne back in line for a world title shot before the end of the year or in early 2018.

CRUISERWEIGHT: Mark Flanagan 21-4 (14)

WBA #11 Mark “Bam-Bam” Flanagan 21-4 (14) had an active year but it was hardly against stellar opposition. The 26-year-old from Rasmussen, QLD dispatched winless Eden McGrath 0-2, debutant Jack McInnes, fair-to-middling James Langton 10-5 (5) and the marginally better Argentinean Orlando Antonio Farias 31-15 (19).

So, what’s the rub on Flanagan and why should he be watched? Well to be honest, this was a tough pick. An argument can be made that “Hollywood” Brad Pitt 19-1 (12) is the better prospect, but after spending 2015 on the sidelines and only making it through the ring ropes once in 2016, it makes it hard to back in the Peninsula powerhouse to make that leap to world class level in 2017. And at 35, Mr Pitt has only a small window of opportunity to make his mark. We here at Maxboxing hope he does, but for the year ahead, Mr Flanagan would appear better placed to make noise on the world stage.

Australia’s premier boxing promoter Brian Amatruda has already earmarked “Bam-Bam” for a world title tilt this year and with the WBA recognizing a “super” champion in Denis Lebedev and a “regular” champion in Beibut Shumenov, he would seem to have double the opportunities to make his mark.

And as a talented boxer-puncher who is improving with every fight, it says here that Bam-Bam is cherry ripe to break through to the bigtime in 2017.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Trent Broadhurst 19-1 (12)

IBF #12 Trent Broadhurst 19-1 (12) saw action twice in 2016, besting a brace of international opponents in American Shawn Miller 15-3-1 (5) in August by technical decision in seven and Pole Michal Ludwiczak 14-5 (6) by eight round decision in November on Angelo Di Carlo promoted cards.

The talented 28-year-old from Slacks Creek in QLD is the forgotten man of Australian boxing. With a stiff jab, big right hand and huge gas tank that sees him carry his power late into fights, Broadhurst is the type of fundamentally sound boxer that promises to be a handful to anyone in the division. Against Miller his high workrate and savage body attack paid dividends, while Ludwiczak succumbed to the Chris McCullen-trained boxer’s power.

The 175-pound division is stacked with talent and Broadhurst is going to have to tiptoe through this minefield if he wants to make it to the top. With Andre Ward, Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson topping the table, talented up-and-comers like Joe Smith Jr, Artur Beterbiev, Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Marcus Browne hot on their heels, and experienced pros like Jean Pascal, Jurgen Brahmer and Isaac Chilemba bringing up the rear, it is going to take some astute matchmaking to keep Broadhurst in the winner’s column and moving up the ranks.

Fortunately, the IBF still has some beatable bodies in their top 15, including shopworn former champions #13 Chad Dawson 34-4 (19) and #11 Robert Stieglitz 50-5-1 (29), and untested prospects like #3 Erik Skoglund 26-0 (12), #14 Mike Lee 18-0 (10) and #15 Radivoje Kalajdric 22-1 (15).

As Anthony Mundine’s leading sparring partners for the past couple of years, Broadhurst’s next assignment will be against durable veteran and two-time world title challenger Nader Hamdan 44-13-1 (19) on the Mundine versus Danny Green II undercard on February 3rd in Adelaide, SA. Hamdan, who has only been stopped once in 13 losses to a prime Arthur Abraham in the 12th and final round, will give Broadhurst – who has never been past the 8th – some much-needed rounds before targeting bigger names at 175-pounds in mid-2017.

A follow-up assignment for Broadhurst is scheduled against American Travis Reeves 13-2-2 (7) at Eatons Hills Hotel QLD on March 18th.