British heavyweight Dave Allen should be able to show Christopher Lovejoy this weekend when the duo meet in London
This is the opinion of US agent Steve Tannenbaum, a staunch supporter of WBN, who has been associated with several top fighters over the years, including heavyweights Larry Holmes and Jerry Quarry
With Allen’s next fight this Saturday against US heavyweight Christopher Lovejoy, Tannenbaum weighed in with some interesting observations
« I was a friend of Jerry’s and actually consulted him and did some PR work on him at the end of his career, » Tannenbaum exclusively told World Boxing News
« His manager / trainer Gil Clancy introduced me to Jerry as a kid in the 1970s, and I have kept in touch with him throughout the years.
« I think Dave Allen is one of the best white heavyweights since Quarry is no limited fighter; Allen is vastly underestimated by the public and the boxing community
« He takes a great shot, is very hard and hits with a lot of authority with either hand In fact he has perhaps the best short left hook to the body I’ve seen since Quarry
« Allen mixes his punches really well with decent hand speed Plus, Allen has excellent boxing brains and knows how to slide punches when he’s on
« In person he is very charming and really smart, not just flippant Allen is a promoter’s dream The whole package is here
« He made some bad decisions early in his career and was hooked up with guys he should never have shared the ring with, which explains his somewhat uneven track record »
Asked by WBN how he would explain Allen’s loss to David Price, Tannenbaum added, “Allen as Quarry has a weakness: demons haunt him. Emotionally, he broke
« Whether you believe in him or not, no one could have imagined Allen ever giving up on the stool like he did against Price
« Why didn’t he put pressure on Price early on and put the gas on him? » The plan was there for him to follow.I was sure he would bend Price in six or seven turns
« What was his corner telling him? » I think the demons set in when things weren’t going as planned, and emotionally he broke down
« I saw the same when Jerry fought Frazier in their second fight He started to crumble in the fourth round, and I believe, gave up in the fifth in which the referee ostensibly interrupted the fight due to severe cuts
« Jerry came very light for this fight at just 197 1/2 pounds, and it was in his head when he entered the ring
« He came back to his corner at the end of the first round He told Clancy he felt weak After that he was doomed »
« My instinct is that Allen will excel at fighting in the atmosphere of ‘The Bubble’ because he won’t have the pressure to please an audience
« With this emotional baggage on his shoulders, I expect him to be vicious and tenacious in his attack. Then stop Lovejoy within five laps
« Lovejoy is undefeated 19-0 with all first round knockouts Mac Foster was also undefeated with 24 straight wins – all knockouts A record when he fought Quarry
« Foster was stopped in sixth grade after Quarry broke him down Foster was a solid, highly ranked heavyweight who went on a few years later to do fifteen laps with a young Muhammad Ali
« Lovejoy, on the other hand, has a very questionable record as all of his wins are to come in Tijuana, Mexico, and all of his opponents except one have lost records
« In fact, the only guy he has beaten with a winning record has been knocked out seven times in a row since losing to Lovejoy
« I suspect he can knock a bit – even though he stopped a group of taxi drivers from Tijuana
« Dave Allen, I think he’ll hit him in the body early Then crush him after a few laps After that I think Lovejoy will pretty much disappear from the sport »
Phil Jay is Editor-in-Chief of WBN An auxiliary member of the Boxing Writers Association of America Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay
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World News – UK – EXCLUSIVE: ‘Haunted Dave Allen should exhibit Christopher Lovejoy ‘