Dave Allen knows exactly where he stands: one win from Deontay Wilder – and one punch away from being knocked “into next fucking week.”
It’s typical Allen: self-aware, half-joking, but deadly serious beneath the grin. “I'm just obsessed with the next one now,” he told BoxingScene, and for good reason. A win in Sheffield, UK, this autumn could deliver more than the biggest fight of his career – it could mean generational wealth, recognition on a global stage and the crowning moment in a career that has been anything but conventional. Five years after a short-lived retirement followed by a stint on the small-hall scene, Allen finds himself back in the mix. No longer the joker on the undercard, he is a heavyweight with everything to fight for – and, just maybe, nothing left to prove.
Gone are the days of “The White Rhino” rolling off the sofa, skipping camp and stepping in on short notice against some of the division’s most dangerous names. Following his stunning fifth-round stoppage of rising prospect Johnny Fisher in May, Allen has rejoined forces with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing on a two-fight deal. But their dynamic has shifted. Allen – now older, wiser and far removed from the chaos of his earlier years – returns not as a novelty but as one of Hearn’s biggest homegrown stars.
The young man who once smashed two cans of Irn-Bru over his head after a flat performance against Ariel Esteban Bracamonte in 2018 has evolved. In his place stands a father of two – still a joker at heart, but now with everything to fight for. With a potential runout in Sheffield later this year and the promise of a career-defining bout on the horizon, Allen is flying high: focused, grounded and, finally, in control of his own narrative.
"I'm going to go back to the bottom in some ways. Do you know what I mean?" Allen joked about his recent rise. "I'm ready for the bottom. I just want to fight in September, October in the Sheffield Arena. … I need to win that, because I think we've got Deontay Wilder. The biggest fight of my career is next, and you know what? It won't be a bad [opponent in Sheffield], but it won't be a massive name. I just need to win that fight – if I win that fight, we've got generational wealth. It's only one generation, and it's mine.
"It's wealth for me. My kids will have a great life. I just need to win that next one. I can't complain now. That next fight is so big for me – I'm one [away from] generational wealth. I won't have to work for the next five years if I win the next one, so yeah, I'm in a great place, really. But the next fight is massive. That's where I'm at now. I'm back training now, so I'll win that next one. I'm just obsessed with the next one now."
These so-called "keep busy" fights are where Allen has come unstuck in the past. Riding high off big wins over the likes of Nick Webb and Lucas Browne, he would often overlook his next opponent. And while he usually won, he did so in dreadful shape. That’s no longer the case. Allen is already ticking over in Manchester with coaches Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis, ahead of an official announcement for the Sheffield date.
"I'm the guy that could knock good fighters’ spark out and get beat by a journeyman in the next fight," he said, half-joking (but only half). "I'm very aware of that. But I've never been better."
Now the talk has turned to Wilder. Not as fantasy, not as hype, but as a very real possibility – just one win away. It’s a position Allen never expected to be in, especially after years spent fighting four-rounders, semi-retired and largely written off.
"I'm back there again now,” he said with a laugh, recalling the time he used to say he was just two fights away from Anthony Joshua. “We're only one fight from Deontay Wilder now – that's the new one. But I was only two from Joshua. ... The only problem was it was [David] Price and [Alexander] Povetkin [in the way]. So with the Wilder fight, he's genuinely closer.”
It sounds absurd on paper: Dave Allen vs Deontay Wilder. A fighter once known more for his Instagram gags and chin than for serious title ambitions, now a frontrunner for one of the most high-profile bouts available in the heavyweight division. But listen to Allen talk, and it quickly becomes clear – this isn't just a pipe dream.
“Very likely, yeah,” he said when asked how close the fight is. “From winning in Sheffield, I think it’s next. I think both parties are thinking [about it] as well – not just me and Matchroom. I think Wilder as well.”
Talk of Wilder, who is widely considered one of the biggest punchers ever to grace the sport, doesn’t faze Allen. In fact, he seems to relish the prospect of taking on the former champion.
“I don't worry about power – the one thing I actually don't worry about is power,” he said. “I've never been on the canvas as a pro – 33 fights, I’ve boxed with really good fighters. They have to hit me first.”
Allen gestures to his face. “People always say, ‘Oh look at your nose, you get hit all the time.’ I do get hit a lot – I get hit here and here,” he added, pointing to his nose and forehead. “But not on the chin. I’m hard to hit. I’m like a 10-year James Toney past his best. He never got put down, either.”
Allen knows Wilder’s 43-4-1 (42 KOs) record speaks for itself, but he insists that the American’s legendary right hand isn’t what keeps him up at night.
“Deontay Wilder will not hit me clean – definitely not,” he said. “But he might out-point me while I’m trying to figure him out. He’s a problem. But I don’t worry about power and strength. I can deal with all that. What I worry about is movement and boxing. If Wilder comes in and boxes – let’s not forget, he can still box – that worries me more than his power.”
And despite the long odds that would likely come with a fight against Wilder, Allen is quietly confident.
“This version of me is a problem for anyone,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m the best in the world, but I’m a problem. I’m 18 and a half, 19 stone, I can punch, I’ve got experience, and when I’m fit, I’m a hard man to beat. When I’m on it, I’m taking anyone 10 or 12 rounds. I hit hard enough to cause problems, I’m clever enough to make you miss, and I’m strong enough to give you something to worry about. I've just got to be fit, and there’s no danger of that not happening now.”
A win over Wilder would be the crowning moment in a career that has seen its fair share of ups and downs, and now Allen, at 33 years old, doesn’t have a great deal of it left.
“I just want people to remember me as a good fighter,” he said. “One that never touched the canvas. That’s a big deal to me.”
He estimates there are 2-5 fights left in the tank – not many, but maybe enough to change how he’s remembered, from cult hero to serious contender who did it his own way.
Talk of titles doesn’t stir much emotion. “It’s absolutely nice, but not important,” he says when asked about the British. “I might circle back to it one day, but my aspirations are bigger now – I’m thinking about financial things, about the kids before I think about myself.”
Once retired and seemingly finished with boxing, Allen now finds himself back in the thick of it – older, wiser and far more dangerous. “It’s hard to believe I’m back here really,” he said with a grin. “But I’m just going to do my thing.”
The jokes still land, but now so do the punches. This version of Allen might just be a problem for the heavyweight division.
Tom Ivers is an amateur boxer who has a masters degree in sports journalism. He had his first bout in 2013, joined BoxingScene in 2024 and is now a key part of the UK and social media teams.