Dave Allen offered to fight on Whyte-Rivas undercard on July 20

By Boxing News - 04/24/2019 - Comments

Image: Dave Allen offered to fight on Whyte-Rivas undercard on July 20

By Charles Bruns: Dave Allen (17-4-2, 14 KOs) has been offered a slot on the undercard of heavyweight Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas on July 20 against possibly former British and Commonwealth champion David Price (24-6, 19 KOs) on Sky Box Office at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Allen, 27, is coming off of a big third round knockout victory over former WBA World heavyweight champion Lucas “Big Daddy’ Browne (28-2, 24 KOs) last Saturday night on April 20 at the O2.

It’s a big decision the 35-year-old Price has to make in deciding whether to take a risky fight against Allen or not. This is a fight that Price needs if he wants to get the bigger fights in the future. He did well in his last fight in beating Kash Ali by a fifth round disqualification win on March 30 in Liverpool, England. It wasn’t an entirely great victory for Price, considering he had gassed out in the 5th, and was taking punishment against the ropes moments before the fight was stopped due to Ali biting him. Ali tackled Price to the floor, and bit him on his midsection. If Ali had simply tackled Price and left it at that. He could have gotten back up and finished the exhausted Price off, but he blew it.

“David Price, I believe, is looking likely to be next,” Allen said to skysports.com. “If he loses to me, he’ll have to retire, so he’ll have to think twice about it, but I think it’s the biggest fight at domestic level. I would love the fight. I would love the chance to fight him.”

Price has the power, size and pedigree to beat the brakes off of Allen. What Price doesn’t have is the chin and the stamina. The wheels could come off for Pricey if he’s forced to go more than four rounds. That’s about as far as Price can go nowadays before he fades into oblivion and is ready to be knocked out by almost anyone he faces.

Whether Price takes the fight or not, it’s still grand idea for Allen to be fighting on the undercard of Whyte vs. Rivas. That’ll give Allen a great deal of exposure, and it could lead to a bigger fight in his next contest. Allen already fought Whyte a few years ago, and that didn’t work out too well with Allen losing a wide 10 round unanimous decision in July 2016. Allen has improved a lot since then, but so has Whyte. It’s more likely than not that if Allen wins his fight on July 20, provided that he fights on that card, he could be matched up with possibly a fringe contender. Allen’s promoter Eddie Hearn probably won’t match him against any of his recent signings such as Murat Gassiev or Zhilei Zhang. Those guys have a lot of experience, and it might not be fair for Allen to fight guys like that at this early point in his career.

“I believe he’s the perfect fighter for me,” Allen said about Price. “Right now, he’s made for me.”