By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Former world title challenger Tommy Browne will clash with former WBA super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine on Wednesday at Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia, and is confident a victory could lead to a million dollar bout with WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn.
Browne’s younger brother Davey tragically passed away after a bout in 2015. “It was something I was scared of, but at the same time I knew if anything happened I had someone up there waiting for me,” Browne says.
For most, it’s a difficult mindset to understand.
“Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to explain”
“The best way I can put it, is if you’ve ever been married, when you walk down that aisle, it’s all about you. Everyone is there for you, and that’s what it feels like on fight night. You’ve got all that support, all eyes are on you and your opponent.”
“After my brother, the sport could never give back what it owes me and my family,” Browne says. “You put 20 years into the sport and get very little out of it. You can’t replace what I’ve lost, but I know that after I get this win next week, that will be a big tick on the box.
“I have unfinished business in boxing. Even when Davey was around, I looked at the stars in our sport here that had recognition but hadn’t done half the things my brother and I had achieved.
“I have been involved in 16 title fights, won 13 of them, and still people in Australia don’t know who I am, and other guys come through and suddenly have a name.”
“I’ve got a lot of family and friends who say to me, ‘Why are you still boxing? You’ve got nothing to prove, you don’t need to box anymore’,” Browne says. “Those people didn’t say this to me 20 years ago, they didn’t worry about the dangers 20 years ago. This is all I know how to do.
“They want to turn around now and say the sport is dangerous. Don’t tell me this now.
“If he wants that fight, he needs to put in a good performance against me, but that could possibly be a fight for me,” Browne says. “I am only one division heavier than Horn, and there are two divisions between Horn and Mundine. I am the only one.
“He is obviously heavier and bigger, he thinks he’s just going to push me around and that his strength will get over the top of me,” Browne says. “But I’ll tell you now, if he makes it back to his corner after that first round, he won’t be thinking that.
“I have sparred heavier guys in preparation, weight isn’t going to be an issue, we’ve really worked hard on strength and that isn’t going to be an issue either.”