Former world heavyweight champion Lucas Browne has scoffed at claims by British heavyweight prospect Fabio Wardley he’s put a deadline on him fighting in March.

“Fabio, that ship has sailed mate,” Browne said with a laugh.

“We were due to fight last year but after being sent the bout agreement, Matchroom were unable to fly me home to Perth. They could only fly me to Melbourne and quarantine there for two weeks and then after that fly to Perth and quarantine there for another two weeks.  That’s the equivalent of quarantining in Istanbul when you’re trying to get to London.

"They wanted me to drop the number of people coming over with me and in the end, we pulled the plug. It was meant to be rescheduled and it all went quiet. With what’s happening in the world with this pandemic, I’ve moved on.”

Browne’s manager, Matt Clark continued: “Lucas has signed a two fight deal with Dean Lonergan here in Australia. One of those fights will be against red hot prospect Justis Huni and it’s for a lot more money than Wardley brings to the table.

"I see Fabio was complaining about his headache from Covid, he’s lucky he doesn’t have Lucas Browne dropping right hands on his dome, then he’d know what a headache is. Fabio has nothing Lucas wants at this stage. He’s happy using his name for publicity without having to fight him.

"He’s achieved very little but talks like he’s world champion. He’s insinuated on social media that Browne is afraid of him... Lucas travelled to Grozny to beat Ruslan Chagaev. He’s hardly going to lose sleep about facing Wardley in Eddie Hearn’s backyard, but there’s a pandemic going on and we’re looking forward to having Browne compete in front of Aussie audiences."