By Edward Chaykovsky

British heavyweight David Allen has reached out to promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport, pleading his case for a showdown with Cuba's Luis Ortiz on December 10th, as part of undercard to Anthony Joshua's IBF title defence against Eric Molina at Manchester Arena, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Allen has promised to "stand and trade" with Ortiz - and not run away as was the case with Malik Scott.

This past Saturday night in Monte Carlo, Ortiz (26-0, 22KOs) made his Matchroom debut with a twelve round unanimous decision over Scott. The fight was very hard on the eyes, as for twelve rounds Scott barely threw any punches as Ortiz chased him around the ring.

Allen has no fear of the 37-year-old, who has blasted his way through the competition. He felt Ortiz - known by his nickname of 'King King' - looked a lot older in the ring than his age states and made him more confident of beating him in Manchester.

"After seeing him on Saturday night, I fancy the job even more, and I feel a lot of other heavyweights will fancy the job now," Allen told Sky Sports. "He looks older than the real King Kong, so why am I going to fear a 70-year-old man? I don't think he's what he's hyped up to be, but I will give him more opportunity than Malik Scott to show he is the real deal.

"I'll stand in front of him and see what he's about. I'll stand and trade, because I can't do anything else - that's the problem. If I could box, maybe I would do that. Malik Scott didn't even come to fight and I can only improve on that performance anyway."

Allen suffered first professional defeat on points against Dillian Whyte in July, and promised to put in a better effort with Ortiz.

"You can expect a fight, that's one thing for definite," said Allen. "The Dillian Whyte fight was disappointing. I watched it back and I didn't let my hands go.

"I'm made out of marble and if I get swinging, I have a bit of power as well. It would be a great fight. He definitely will not blow me away and I definitely will not run away, and that's what I can promise."

Ortiz doesn't speak much English, which is why Allen has been learning Spanish - so there could be a lot of pre-fight trash talking in the buildup to their fight.

"I'm learning Spanish as we speak," he joked. "I've been learning Spanish for the last three days, just in case. I'll be ready for him in English, Spanish, and in sign language. He wouldn't get the better of the White Rhino in fight week."