Lucas Browne scores HUGE upset as he knocks out highly rated Junior Fa in the first round

Lucas Browne was supposed to have no chance of beating Kiwi boxer Junior Fa after sinking to a career low when he was belted by Paul Gallen last April – but he shut up his critics with a stunning first-round knockout in Melbourne on Sunday.

The 43-year-old was viewed as a washed-up former heavyweight champ after his shock knockout loss to Gallen, and was desperate to show he can still cut it in the sport’s premier division.

He did just that by nailing Fa with a monster right hand early in the first round, leaving the Kiwi struggling to get off the canvas.

The referee allowed the contest to continue despite Fa being in Disneyland, and he managed to hold Browne off briefly before another huge right hand finished him off.

The second blow got around Fa’s outstretched left arm and appeared to hit him at least partially in the back of the head.  

Browne (right) was at very long odds to beat Fa before the fight, but shut his critics up with two monster right hands that left the Kiwi in Disneyland 

The referee would’ve been justified in stopping the fight after the first shot on Fa, who was obviously rocked and struggled to find his feet before beating the count

Browne won the World Boxing Association oceania heavyweight title with the devastating victory, his second straight KO win after the Gallen disaster, and screamed ‘Better than ever!’ straight after the bout.

It was a massive fall from grace for Fa, who had only lost two of his previous 20 bouts – with a close defeat by decision to his fellow Kiwi Joseph Parker coming before the Browne fight. 

Parker is one of the world’s top heavyweights, having fought Anthony Joshua, Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte, and Fa’s display against him made him the hot favourite against Browne.

The Aussie showed how badly he was affected by his loss to Gallen in the week leading up to his fight with Fa, even making the extraordinary claim that he didn’t lose the bout because the ex-NRL star illegally hit him in the head five times.

In his next fight he knocked out Faiga Opelu in the seventh round despite looking unimpressive until he landed the shot that ended the fight.

More to come…