By Robert Addams: Eddie Hearn says he doesn’t like the offer that was given to heavyweight Dave Allen (17-5-2, 14 KOs) to face Daniel Dubois (13-0, 12 KOs). Hearn says he’ not happy with the money that the 27-year-old Allen would be receiving for that fight, and he wants the offer to be increased. He feels that Allen can make the same money fighting one of his heavyweight contenders in his Matchroom Boxing stable.
According to Hearn, Dubois needs Allen, and he wants his promoter Frank Warren to make a proper offer. Hearn says Dubois isn’t selling or rating on BT. So he feels that Warren needs to come up with a good offer for Allen if he wants him as an opponent for the young 22-year-old Dubois to fight.
The timing for Allen to face Dubois isn’t good right now, given that he was stopped in the 10th round by David Price three months ago on July 20. Allen performed horrendously bad in that fight, and he admitted recently that he was scared. If Allen is scared of the 36-year-old Price, what will his emotional state be against a puncher like Dubois?
Hearn: Allen can get more money than what was offered for Dubois fight
“I got to listen to Eddie because he knows better than me,” said Allen to IFL TV.
“You can’t make decisions because you ain’t got a f— clue,” said Hearn. “You’re a fighter. How he negotiated with me on the Price fight and other fights, and then they boys turn up, and he would have took it. I’m thinking every time you bent me over backwards. Normally we do it on Instagram. ‘I don’t know about that, mate.
“I’m not very happy with that money.’ I just feel like this time he can get more money than that to fight Daniel Dubois in January or February or December, and he’ll get more money than that to fight another top heavyweight from our stable.
“If you’re going to fight those guys, you’ve got to be 100 percent ready. They’re dangerous guys. He’d be ready but he wouldn’t be right,” said Hearn when asked if Allen would be ready to fight in December.
Allen has next to no chance of beating the 6’5″ Dubois. This would be a showcase fight for Dubois to look good by beating a fighter that a lot of British boxing fans are familiar with. Since Allen has almost no shot at winning, the only thing he gains from the fight is the payday. So if it’s not a big enough payday to be worthwhile for him, then there’s no point in Allen taking the fight. It’s not a fight that will end well for him.
Allen needs a solid win right now
“I told him we’re better off fighting a 10-rounder. Finding an Intercontinental title,” said Hearn about Allen. “He always says to me, ‘Can’t you dig me up someone for a six-rounder?’ I’d rather pay you more money to find you someone mid-level. Get a good performance, get a good win, and you should have had a belt on the line for the Lucas Browne fight. What I noticed is that every time you have a belt on the line, you lose. So I think you shouldn’t have one on the line. You lost against Lenroy Thomas, and you lost against David Price.
“There was a belt on the line for that. Once he’s offered the right opportunity, he can go wherever he wants. I want the best for Dave Allen, and I also want him to make the right decisions. As I’ve said to him and other fighters I’ve worked with in the past or I work with now, ‘if you get a great offer that you feel is right, show me. I’ll give you an honest answer.’ They can’t make decisions. They’re not qualified to make decisions. They’ve got to be protected from themselves,” said Hearn.
Well, it wouldn’t be a good idea for Hearn to throw Allen in with any of the heavyweights that he has in his Matchroom stable. Those guys are too good for Allen to be fighting them. Allen might do more harm to his efforts at getting a bigger offer to fight Dubois if he struggles to beat am
Hearn wants Allen to beat someone before Dubois fight
“When you say the money is crazy, you’ve got to take it,” said Hearn . “That’s what this is. It’s a prize fight. But when there’s fight with great risk and you’re not quite ready, this might be a case of no amount of money should get you to fight. Dave Allen doesn’t quite work like that. But if Frank Warren wants to pay proper money like Dave Allen deserves, but until then, come back and get a good win. I actually want to see him get a good win. You get these mediocre wins apart from the Lucas Browne fight. That was a good win,” said Hearn.
Allen needs a good confidence booster victory over one of these guys:
- Kash Ali
- Kamil Sokolowski
- Tom Little
- Ivica Perkovic
- Irineu Beato Costa Junior
- Ivica Perkovic
Ali would be a good test for Allen right now. He came close to beating Price recently. If Allen can beat Kash, it would be an excellent tune-up to get him ready for Dubois.
Dubois isn’t selling or rating on BT says Hearn
“Listen, Dave Allen is a household name. The money they were offering [to fight Daniel Dubois], he can make against any top heavyweight,” said Hearn about Dave Allen. “I don’t feel like it’s the right fight at the right time. He spent his entire career taking the wrong fight at the wrong time. It’s only lately that he’s taken the right fight at the right time. So if you go in there and lose to Dubois in two rounds, what are you going to do then?
So I’d like to see him come back, and get himself right mentally and physically. Then come back with an 8 or 10 round win, then fight Dubois. But they’ve got to pay serious money. Let’s be honest; they need Dave Allen. Dubois’ not selling, and he’s not rating on BT. He’s a good fighter, by the way. I’m not knocking him, but he needs someone. They can’t keep flying over Ghanaian’s, who no one has ever heard of. So pay the money to Dave Allen,” said Hearn.
The young Dubois is need of a name fighter like Allen to help increase his popularity, and Hearn doesn’t think too highly of the way he’s being matched. In 2 out of his last 3 fights, Dubois has been matched against Ghanaian’s Richard Lartey and Ebenezer Tetteh. Those aren’t name guys that the casual boxing fans in the UK are familiar. So, Hearn says that Dubois’ management needs to pay Allen the money to get him to take the fight. Just how much money that Hearn is looking to get for Allen is unknown.
Hearn advises Allen NOT to take Dubois fight
“They will say that, ‘we offered him the same money he made against David Price,'” said Hearn. “Yeah, but we thought he could beat David Price, and he thought he could beat David Price. Right now, he can’t beat Daniel Dubois. So right now you’re only taking it for money. It’s acceptable if the money is too good to turn down. I’ve got a fight for him to come back, and he can fight anyone in a top heavyweight for more money than that. But it’s what you want out of life.
“Do you want to just take the payday or do you want to try and build on it and improve. I just felt like I pulled out tonight because he wasn’t physically and mentally ready. So why go in eight or nine weeks later against a very good fighter when the answer is for money. But like I said to him, ‘Unless the money is too much for him to turn down, don’t take the fight,'” said Hearn
The problem with Hearn choosing to have Allen not take the fight with Dubois is the fact that he might lose to someone else. In Allen’s recent defeat against Price last July, he looked so bad that he would likely lose to almost any 2nd tier fighter. If Allen gets beaten by another lesser heavyweight, then he can probably forget about ever getting a fight against Dubois, because he won’t be useful to him.
