By Keith Idec

Sean Monaghan had hoped to challenge Adonis Stevenson for the WBC light heavyweight title this spring.

Once negotiations for a Stevenson-Monaghan match at Nassau Coliseum fell apart, Monaghan was presented with two choices. Monaghan could’ve fought unbeaten but unknown Swedish contender Erik Skoglund (26-0, 12 KOs) or another undefeated fighter with whom he is much more familiar – Marcus Browne (19-0, 14 KOs).

Monaghan, 35, and Browne, 26, are friendly and have sparred nearly 100 rounds against each other over the past 10 years. Monaghan still took the fight, which will take place July 15 at the newly renovated Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, 15 minutes from Monaghan’s home in Long Beach.

“If they would’ve offered me the same money to fight somebody else [other than Browne], I probably would’ve taken somebody else,” Monaghan told krikya360.com following a press conference Tuesday. “But they offered me twice the amount of money they offered me [for Skoglund]. And the opportunity is what it is. We can be friends, but it doesn’t mean we’ve gotta let that get in the way of our destiny and our future in boxing.

“[Skoglund] is an undefeated guy from Sweden, but they weren’t offering much money for him. And I just knew that this would be big. It had to happen sooner or later. They offered me Skoglund, and then they offered me Marcus for twice the money. It was kind of a no-brainer to me.”

The left-handed Browne battered Thomas Williams Jr. (20-3, 14 KOs) on his way to a sixth-round knockout victory in his last fight, February 18 in Cincinnati. Monaghan called the 2012 Olympian from Staten Island “one-hundred percent” the top opponent he has faced since he turned pro seven years ago.

“I’m old school that way,” Monaghan said. “I’m not trying to look for any easy work or anything like that. If I were to get a title fight, obviously, like anybody I would’ve taken it. But I’m not opposed to taking tough fights. I’ve been looking for tough fights for the past couple years.

“This is about legacy and about proving myself, that I belong with the best in the world. You become the best by beating the best, so the opportunity to beat somebody of this caliber is an opportunity in itself. It’s a little bit different than I thought it was gonna be. I was hoping to get Adonis Stevenson. But this is a huge opportunity for me and the winner of this fight is definitely gonna go on to a big fight.”

The Monaghan-Browne bout will be one of three fights televised by FOX from Nassau Coliseum.

The main event will pit former four-division champion Robert Guerrero (33-5-1, 18 KOs, 2 NC), of Gilroy, California, against Omar Figueroa (26-0-1, 18 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, in a 10-round welterweight fight. FOX’s tripleheader also will include a 10-round bout between Polish heavyweights Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15 KOs) and Adam Kownacki (15-0, 12 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.