If Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne beats Dillian Whyte in two weeks time, then he will put himself in the frame for another crack at a world title and perhaps redemption.

The 38-year-old from Sydney has been sparring with Tyson Fury this week as he prepares for Whyte, and the ‘Gypsy King’ is looking to get back to full fitness ahead of his comeback fight, whenever that may be.

It must have been a strange week for the two of them, especially as two years ago it looked almost a certainty that these would two would have a showdown in the ring with titles on the line.

Fury had just beaten Wladimir Klitschko in Hamburg, shocking pretty much every one, and Aussie Brown had just stopped Ruslan Chagaev inside 10 rounds; in doing so, he became Australia’s first world heavyweight champion boxer.

However, just two months later, the Australian was stripped of his title after failing a drugs test for the drug clenbuterol – a ruling which was overturned in September that year.

The 38-year-old then produced another positive test for ostarine eight months later (November) which he claimed was due to the use of a legal work out supplement.

Tyson Fury has had a much more publicised battle with drugs and depression, which has led to him being out of the ring for the last two years – not that it has stopped him from having a pop at every heavyweight in the division.

Now the pair have finally met in the ring – admittedly in a sparring session – the 38-year-old has said that is was a good experience to spar with the 29-year-old.

“It was very good to spar with him, he’s awkward, but it was a lot of fun and a great experience,” Browne told world boxing news.

"He’s probably not as trim as he’d want to be but he looks in great shape and is much better than he has been in previous months. We did a fast seven rounds and he was still good after it.

“The big man is awesome; we’ve always got along quite well.

“I met him before he was supposed to fight Chisora at a press conference and then we’ve sort of kept in contact via social media since then.

“He’s gone a little quiet over the last year or two as you can imagine, but we get along quite well so everything went great.

"I’ve met his father and the rest of his family as well so that was nice. He’s just a big 6 ft 9 man – he can move well and he knows what he’s doing.

“At this point in my career I’m 38, I want some good fights, good money and good competitive fights.

"Myself versus Fury would be a great fight for selling purposes and fight-wise. I’ve always been very well received in the UK, it’s my home away from home and I really appreciate the love I get.”