The world’s most controversially world-ranked heavyweight is about to show a large TV audience whether he deserves his place among the elite.
Christopher Lovejoy, a fighter World Boxing News has followed for the past few years, has been a regular feature in the WBA Ratings.
Despite fighting no-hoper opponents in Mexico and knocking them out time and again, mostly in the first round, Lovejoy was looked upon favorably by the World Boxing Association.
Boasting one of the worst winning records in the entire sport, the American is on the voluntary list for champion Anthony Joshua.
At one point, Lovejoy was rated at number 10 due to his run. This situation occurred despite Lovejoy’s entire C.V. of victories coming against 19 boxers who only won 57 fights between them.
For one of those triumphs, the victim was 5ft 7ins and 45 years old. Lovejoy is 6ft 5ins.
It seems Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn is as keen as WBN to find out just how good the ‘Pretty Boy’ is.
“This is fascinating,” said Hearn in regards to Allen vs. Lovejoy. “Here we have this giant in Christopher Lovejoy that has amassed 19 wins with 19 KOs against limited opposition.
“He has somehow found himself in the world top 15. The truth is, he might be an absolute beast, or he may get found out. For Dave Allen, it’s a huge opportunity.
“There will be plenty of eyeballs on this fight.
“If Dave can get the win, he will force himself into the World rankings and land a major fight in 2021.
“I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen, but I’m excited to find out!”
Going up against Dave Allen on Halloween, Lovejoy will be in the sink or swim territory.
Allen has never been defeated in under seven rounds. Luis Ortiz did that in Manchester four years ago. Since then, Allen has proved a tougher nut to crack.
Lovejoy has never gone past three rounds when squaring up to his Mexican part-timers. Therefore, all will be revealed this weekend.
LOVEJOY
The contest is due to go ten rounds on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Derek Chisora. It could turn out to be the most intriguing fight of the night.
Whether the WBA will then rank Allen will be another story, that’s if he can end Lovejoy’s run.
You can certainly never guess what the WBA will do next in regards to the top division.
Phil Jay is Editor of WBN. An Auxiliary member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay.
