New York native and 2012 U.S. Olympic team member is inching closer to a title shot after two impressive knockouts in 2017.
Best of PBC 2017: Prospect of the Year
2017 was an incredible year for the sport of boxing, making the job of picking our annual Best of the Year awards all the more difficult. But after narrowing down thousands of rounds of action inside the ring and numerous individual performances all worthy of their own accolades—we present the annual PBC Awards. Today we start off with the Prospect of the Year, but make sure to check back each day this week as we present a new award.
The light heavyweight division is chock-full of talent. Fighters like Adonis Stevenson, Sergey Kovalev and Badou Jack control the top of the rankings, but one name that is quickly moving up that list is New York-based southpaw Marcus Browne.
The 27-year-old is undefeated with a record of 20-0 with 15 KOs. The 2012 U.S. Olympic team member had two fights in 2017—and Browne made the most of them. In February, Browne delivered a devastating sixth-round knockout against contender Thomas Williams Jr.
The southpaw vs. southpaw scrap was chippy from the opening bell. Browne capitalized on his significant reach advantage and controlled the distance with his jab, as Williams struggled to fight effectively on the inside. Browne floored Williams again in the fourth with a counter right hook, Williams beat the count but consistently ate shots as he struggled to gauge the distance. The third and final knockdown of the fight happened courtesy of a right hook in the opening minute of the sixth. Williams remained on the canvas complaining of an injured jaw, and failed to beat the 10 second count.
Browne might have been even more impressive in his encore performance in July, handing fellow New Yorker Seanie Monaghan his first career loss via a second-round TKO.
Browne landed a straight left on the forehead that dropped his longtime sparring partner in the opening minute of the fight. Browne, resumed his attack in the second, starting with a right hook that had Monaghan reeling against the ropes. Browne then followed up with a left, a right and then a cascade of shots that left Monaghan defenseless. Willis quickly intervened and called it over at 40 seconds of Round 2.
Keep Browne—who beat out other top prospects Mario Barrios, Ahmed Elbiali, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Adam Kownacki and Caleb Plant for our award—on your watch list, because 2018 is likely to be a banner year for this talented light heavyweight.
For all of our year-end honors, visit our Best of PBC 2017 page.
