British heavyweight Dave Allen has confirmed his scheduled clash with Christopher Lovejoy is off after last-minute developments scuppered the bout.
Speculation began following the two fighters’ omission from the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Derek Chisora weigh-in on Friday.
Reports that Lovejoy’s handler Don King had pulled the undefeated puncher swirled around ‘The Bubble’ beforehand.
Now, fast forward a few hours, and Allen has admitted his dismay at what has transpired.
“I am gutted. I am sorry to say my fight with Mr. Lovejoy will not be going ahead. I will not be fighting Saturday,” stated Allen.
“I am in maybe the best shape of my career, but luck has not been in on my side. I’ve been told I will fight before the year is out, and I’ll start training for that this evening.
“I’m very sorry for letting people down but this is a situation well out of my hands,” he added
HEAVYWEIGHT ANOMALY
The Allen vs. Lovejoy encounter had sparked the most interest on the PPV undercard, and a mass of bets was waged with UK bookmakers.
Activity from online betting was largely due to the record held by world-ranked Lovejoy.
The American is 19-0 with 17 first-round KO’s and has never been past the third round.
Lovejoy also hasn’t fought anyone of note and has largely dined out on Mexican also-rans in a career only fought in that country.
Allen will no longer get the opportunity to possibly expose Lovejoy’s record. To say UK fans are disappointed is an understatement.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has faced a backlash on social media. Furthermore, many supporters are saying they only wanted to buy the PPV for the Allen fight.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
