By Cliff Rold

Dillian Whyte-Lucas Brown was a late addition to the HBO boxing schedule (Saturday, 6 PM EST) and one that had some folks scratching their head.

It shouldn’t have.

Heavyweight business is always big business. It’s bigger business right now. For the moment, Showtime is in the driver’s seat on the US airwaves. HBO has bid on Anthony Joshua business before.

They’re keeping their toe in the water here. For viewers, it could work out. This might turn into a fun brawl. Anyone who saw the UK’s Whyte (22-1, 16 KO) defeat Derek Chisora in December 2016 knows what is possible when he’s out there. Whyte’s buzzing of Joshua in 2015 left an impression as well.

Australia’s Browne (25-0, 22 KO) has some clouds over him after a failed PED test following his stoppage win of Ruslan Chagaev in March 2016. Browne couldn’t keep the lesser version of the WBA crown he won that night.

If he can win this weekend, Browne will very suddenly find himself back in the title hunt. Browne is currently just outside the top ten of the WBC and WBA. Whyte is the WBC leading contender and number nine for the WBA.

Victory for either man gets them closer to a mandatory shot at one of the belts held currently by Joshua (WBA/IBF) and Deontay Wilder (WBC).

Mandatory, at least in the closest case with Whyte and the WBC, doesn’t necessarily mean right away. If the numbers can be worked out, and Joshua defeats WBO titlist Joseph Parker next Saturday, the fight everyone wants to see is Joshua-Wilder. The Whyte-Browne winner would likely wait, one way or the other.

They might even get a little extra coin for their trouble.

Their position in those ratings though gives this fight some additional value. They’re not just fighting to fight. The winner is in the mix, legitimized as at least a viable contender. If they can’t get a title shot, they’d be just as viable for the imminently returning Tyson Fury.

For both men, this is a moment of great opportunity.

And while there might not be a ton of science, we might get some sweet violence out of the deal. Neither man is built to avoid a fight. The 6’4 Whyte, only 29, arrived on the scale at 254 ¼, a little higher than the 240’s he’s been in for some of his best wins.

The 38-year old Browne, who stands 6’5, is an even larger 264 ½. That’s almost fifteen pounds more than he was for Chagaev. One could make the joke to say the shape these men are in is round but that doesn’t take away from the reality.

Both need the win. For Browne, age creates urgency. For Whyte, a loss sees a mandated title shot slip away.

Only one man is going to stay in the immediate mix after Saturday. Will the big men create a big show?

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com