Dave Allen withdraws from Oct. 19 fight

Heavyweight Dave Allen, coming off of his one-sided loss to David Price on July 20, was set to return on the Oct. 19 Matchroom card, which features Robbie Davies Jr vs Lewis Ritson and Ted Cheeseman vs Scott Fitzgerald.

But Allen (17-5-2, 14 KO) has announced now that he won’t return on that date, and that he’s going to take some further time away from the ring and even things like social media:

“My frame of mind is not one I believe I can put together any kind of training camp for this fight, and ultimately physically I am not feeling ready to compete Oct. 19,” he wrote on Instagram. Allen, 27, indicates that he expects he will return down the line, but that he’s looking to go “(spend) time back in the real world” for now.

“I’m going to be David for a while, ‘The White Rhino’ is tired,” he added.

This is all totally understandable and, as usual with Allen, probably a bit more candid and honest than we’re used to from pro fighters anymore. He came off a big high earlier this year, beating Lucas Browne in an O2 Arena main event, then hit a big low, losing the fight to Price. To turn around and come back so quickly — the Price loss was just two months ago, would’ve been three months on fight night — was perhaps putting pressure on for no particularly good reason.

Hopefully we see Allen back when he’s feeling up to it. He may not be a world-level fighter, but he’s someone who can surely mix it at domestic level, and that’s not a bad career.