SHEFFIELD, England – “Eddie Hearn has promised me something gargantuan,” Dave Allen tells BoxingScene, flashing that familiar grin. “So I’ve got to beat this fucker over here. So we’ll have to see.”
The “fucker” that Allen speaks of is a 6ft 6in powerhouse from Russia named Arslanbek Makhmudov, which is no easy feat alone. Allen must get past him this Saturday in Sheffield, England, to not only change his life, but the life of the young family he has started at his home town in Doncaster a few short miles away.
The Allen of old would not be fancied by many onlookers, but times have changed. The 33-year-old is now taking the sport seriously, and looks to have turned up this week in the shape of his career following a standout win over Johnny Fisher in May. The “gargantuan” prize that has been taunted by promoter Eddie Hearn is something anyone would struggle to ignore, but Allen is fully focused on the huge Russian mountain he must climb first.
“I think [Deontay] Wilder, or [Kubrat] Pulev for the WBA regular world title,” Allen says of what would be next. “But again, I don’t really give it much thought to be honest, because I’ve got to beat Makhmudov. It’s going to be hard work.”
His attitude not only towards training, but also to the challenge in front of him, is what has defined Allen’s second act. The old ‘White Rhino’, as he was known then, would have jumped straight to the fantasy, already counting the pennies that lie at the end of the rainbow. This version, older, wiser, and more experienced, knows there are no shortcuts when the man across the ring is a 20-2 (19 KOs) wrecking ball from Russia.
When asked to compare Fisher and Makhmudov, Allen, a devoted Football Manager player, draws a quickwitted analogy straight from the English football pyramid.
“League Two to probably the bottom of the Premier League,” he admits. “Probably, yeah, being honest. League Two is decent, it’s a very good standard. Bottom of the Prem – it’s a big jump. Yeah, it’s a big jump, it’s a hard fight. I think I’m an underdog. I think in boxing people’s eyes I’m a big underdog. The wider public obviously all think I’m going to win because they like me, which is great, but I know the crack.
“I’ve never won at this level – been beat up a few times at this level. It’s a big ask. Has the training I’ve done enabled me to? I don’t really know. Am I good enough anyway? So will the training be able to show that I am good enough? I don’t know. I was nervous earlier in the week. I’m not as nervous now. I’m here. I’ve trained hard. I’ve got to enjoy it all. Whatever happens, happens.”
A win on Saturday would change everything. A loss? Allen has already got that covered too.
“Yeah, I know where it leaves me,” Allen, 24-7-2 (19 KOs), says. “I’ve got an eight-rounder fight and then either [a trilogy with] Johnny Fisher, or hopefully a British or Commonwealth title fight – that’s all been agreed. I know what it is, I know it’s a hard fight. I can win, I can lose. I’m half business-minded these days, I know I might lose, and I wanted something in place if I did. That doesn’t make me a pessimist, it’s just the game. I’ve been beat before. I could win this fight and never box again, you know what I mean? We’ll have to see.”
Allen’s willingness to discuss defeat so openly might concern some readers, but it speaks more maturity than resignation. Ever since he rededicated himself to the sport following a spirited, yet controversial, loss in his first contest with Fisher last December, Allen has seemed more focused than ever. He understands the task at hand, but is living a dream he has no desire to wake up from.
“I’ve done everything I wanted to do,” Allen says. “I’ve done it now, it’s all done. This is bonus territory, but it’s a big bonus, it’s a seven-figure bonus for the winner. Money’s not my god really, I couldn’t give a fuck really, but I really want to beat him. Because I want everyone in this room to go, ‘Dave Allen’s a good fighter, very good fighter,’ and they have to if I beat him.”
What Allen wants most, like many who enter the ring, is respect, and to be seen as more than a fighter who made people laugh, or the fan favourite who took too many punches for too little reward.
“Am I any good? Am I not? Am I beyond British title level? Can I get to fringe world level?” he said earlier this week. “This will tell me. Whether I am or not, as long as I'm doing my best, I'm happy.”
For the first time in a long time, Allen feels ready. Not just physically, but mentally. He’s a father now. He’s training properly. He’s living right. The chaos of his earlier career, the nights of self sabotage, the half camps, the no-shows, they all feel distant.
Whatever happens on Saturday night, Allen will walk to the ring with that same smile he always has, but this time knowing that he’s earned the right to find out just how good he really is.
