Artur Beterbiev vs Marcus Browne May Be Next
The only active champion with a 100% knockout ratio, Artur Beterbiev (16-0, 16KO) is expected back in the ring soon. WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán revealed he has ordered the Russian KO artist to defend his title against #1 contender “Sir” Marcus Browne (24-1, 16KO).
ITCHING FOR A CHALLENGE
Browne has been all over the light heavyweight landscape looking for a challenge since losing the WBA interim and WBC Silver title to Jean Pascal in August 2019. After this bout, he would endure a two-year layoff where he had many outbursts on social media claiming fighters were ducking him. He would eventually get his bluff called in January 2020 by another ranked contender and former world title challenger Sullivan Barrera. The two would go back and fourth until Browne had enough lip-service and blocked the Cuban from his Instagram account.
The former interim champion would fade back into oblivion, finishing out 2020 without fighting once!
Then in January, the WBC ordered he face former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez. They were scheduled to go to a purse bid on February 5 but was subsequently pushed back to February 12. Shortly after the new date was announced, Ramirez decided to pull out of the ordered eliminator all-together.
Browne resurfaced in April 2021 on the undercard of top prospect Frank Martin’s fight against Jerry Perez. However due to being out of the loop for so long, his ten round victory against Russian Denis Grachev went un-televised.
AN USNTOPPABLE FORCE
Beterbiev is a unified champion fans cannot wait to see against some of the top fighters in the sport. Many would like to see him take on 3kingsboxing.com #1 rated fighter Canelo Alvarez. Others have mentioned he should try his hand at unifying the division by taking on WBO champion Joe Smith Jr and WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. These fights obviously have not happened yet, but Beterbiev’s perfect knockout streak has fans interested in seeing him in the ring against almost anyone!
In his last outing, the champ destroyed #14 ranked IBF contender Adam Deines by the tenth round. This marked only his first title defense as a unified champion after winning the status two years prior against the retired Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
Browne is definitely a step-up over Deines regardless of his inactivity. If made, this would be a fight between two technical fighters that pack power in both hands. This will definitely be one not to miss!
By: EJ Williams
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