Boxer Lucas Browne has insisted he didn’t eat a sausage roll moments before his first round knockout fight with Paul Gallen, instead saying it was an apricot oat bar.
Fans and commentators slammed Browne’s performance in Wednesday night’s boxing showdown, which cost fans $59.95 to watch at home, with many claiming he was spotted eating a greasy snack before the bout.
Browne, 42, went down to a flurry of punches from the former NRL star after just 115 seconds in a fight that was widely criticised.
The former WBA heavyweight champion weighed in 15kg heavier than his opponent, more than 4kg heavier than his last title bout, but it was the images of his pre-fight snack that sent fans into a flurry.
‘Is that a sausage roll he’s having before the fight? It might well be,’ Fox Sports commentator Warren Smith asked.
Fans have slammed the performance of Lucas Browne in Wednesday boxing showdown with Paul Gallen – with many saying he was eating a sausage roll before his first round knockout
‘He said the first thing he’s going to do tonight if he wins is go to McDonald’s.’
Browne rejected any claims of an underwhelming training regime and denied he was eating a sausage roll before the fight, responding to the claims on his Facebook page.
‘So I’ve just realised wtf everyone was talking about when they were saying you fat c*** for eating a sausage roll while in the change room before the fight,’ he posted on Wednesday night.
‘It was the apricot oat bar.’
The 42-year-old, who became Australia’s first heavyweight champion in 2016 stunning Ruslan Chagaev, weighed in at 117.08kg, way above Gallen’s 102.2kg.
Boxing legend Barry Michael and commentator Paul Kent said during the broadcast there were questions raised about his conditioning coming into the bout.
‘Is that a sausage roll he’s having before the fight? It might well be,’ Fox Sports commentator Warren Smith asked before the fight – but it turned out to be an apricot oat bar
Browne, 42, went down to a flurry of punches from the former NRL star after just 115 seconds in a fight that was widely criticised
‘I did hear rumours about his training camp that he wasn’t looking good,’ Michael said.
‘He showed no resilience whatsoever. His resilience is gone. When a fighter is shot, a fighter is shot. Lucas Browne should never consider venturing into a ring again.’
Kent said Browne had been training as if the fight were going to be over early and hadn’t been working for a long bout.
‘What Barry’s been hearing and what is interesting that’s been around the whole story here is that Browne hasn’t been training that hard because he’s quite comfortable that he’ll get the six rounds out, whether it is a mistake or not,’ he said.
Fans meanwhile were convinced the former heavyweight champion was eating fast food before the fight.
‘I wanna enjoy anything as much as Lucas Browne enjoyed this pre-fight sausage roll,’ a Twitter user posted to the platform.
‘That sausage roll must’ve gave Lucas Browne a stomach ache,’ one person tweeted.
‘Lucas browne just conned all of a Australia, eating a sausage roll before the fight there for a paycheck unreal,’ another suggested.
Browne, who became Australia’s first heavyweight champion in 2016 stunning Ruslan Chagaev, weighed in at 117.08kg, way above Gallen’s 102.2kg
Fans were convinced the former heavyweight champion was eating fast food before the fight
Browne claims he was eating an apricot oat bar rather than a sausage roll (pictured during the fight)
Browne said he ‘honestly did’ train hard for the fight, instead suggesting he moved his setup to New South Wales later than he should have.
‘I did all my fitness and work in Perth first, before I came here [to NSW],’ Browne said post-fight.
‘But the future will hold a lot of fitness in Perth, but I’ll come over here three or four weeks out from the fight rather than two just to make sure everything sits in and the game plan is where it should be.’