By Shane Daly
Dave Allen is the most likeable man in boxing. He’s big, he’s hard, he’s funny and his best mates name is Tony Montana. That’s true!! What’s not to like. Operation White Rhino is back on track after Dave blasted out Tom Dallas at the weekend. It was a fight Allen absolutely needed to win. I think I speak for us all win I say thankfully he did. Tom Dallas wasn’t exactly the most arduous of opponents having lost his last 7 fights. Having said that, I still took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh of relief when Dave knocked him out. I mean that in the nicest possible way. It certainly isn’t that I wish Tom Dallas any harm. It’s purely that I want Dave Allen to win so bloody badly. The heartache of seeing him lose the Commonwealth title to Jamaican Lenroy Thomas was unbearable for us all that want operation White Rhino to succeed.
He has fought 16 professional fights and lost only 3 times. His first lost came against Dillian Whyte (British and WBC Silver International Heavyweight champion), his second was against Luis Ortiz (WBA Inter-Continental Heavyweight Champion) and his third was against Lenroy Thomas (Heavyweight Commonwealth Champion). He needed wins in order to get back on track. After the Ortiz fight he beat, Lukasz Rusiewicz and David Howe which lead him to the Thomas fight. Eddie Hearn much like the rest of us took a shine to Papi Rhino and decided to take him under his wing. In case you missed it Allen got the moniker of “Papi Rhino” after he garnered a massive gay following having stuffed his underpants with a sock at his weigh in for the David Howe fight. At first Allen professed the bulge to be real, later admitting that it was 98% sock…!
It Was Eddie that conjured up that Commonwealth title shot. However, that plan was derailed. Thomas beat Allen on points. That defeat begged the question, was Allen taking his career as seriously as he should be? He openly admits he is too heavy. He finds the diet aspect of boxing difficult and the discipline of training very tough. At 6’3 and weighing in for the Dallas fight at 18 stone 13lbs he probably is carrying too much weight. Regards taking the game seriously, only Dave himself can answer that. All we can do as fans of Papi Rhino is hope that he progresses now to fulfil his potential. A few more wins and a British title shot is possible. It also seems reasonable that he might get a rematch with Thomas for the Commonwealth Title. He is back on an Eddie Hearn Matchroom card on October 7th. It is very possible that he will get the rematch then but he fights once more before then. He’ll need to win that fight too in order rot the Commonwealth rematch to be feasible. However, one thing is for sure, we wish you the absolute best Dave. We wish your Dad a speedy recovery and if you win the British or Commonwealth title the KFC is on me…!