On the surface, the blue-collar English town of Conisbrough’s Dave Allen is just another heavyweight boxer. But dig a little deeper, and you will find a man who is making up for lost time. Allen feels he wasted his 20s enjoying life, so he is making up for it in his 30s by making as much money as he can for one purpose—giving his children the life they deserve. ‘White Rhino’ recently appeared in an interview with Boxing King Media, where he explained his relentless drive to secure his children’s future. 

“Yeah, [I have] been very busy. Doing everything. Anything you can do in boxing, I do it,” Allen told the reporter when asked how he is juggling being a boxer, manager, promoter, and trainer at the same time. “I wasted my 20s, you know. Wasted them. [I] want to make the most of [my] 30s. I want my kids to have the nicest life they can, so I work every hour of the day.”

“It’s hard. But I still spend plenty of time with the kids, to be honest. I have plenty of time. I don’t sleep very much, though. But yeah, I see the kids a lot. I’m very fortunate. I spend more time with my kids than most dads will get to, cuz [my] work is very different. But working non-stop… I had f**k all as a kid, I had nothing, you know.”

“I hated non-uniform day, you know, I hated your weekly trip, your residential trip away, I hated going up for free school dinners, doing little things like that. That’s nothing, I hated wearing s**t clothes, I don’t want my kids to do that. That’s literally it.

Allen acknowledged his ambitions might seem materialistic. But guess what? He claimed that his goal was to ensure his children never had to experience the hardships he faced growing up. This doesn’t mean he holds any resentment against his parents. On the contrary, he expressed deep respect for the sacrifices they made to provide for him.

“I live in a big fancy house now,” Allen added during the interview. “[And it] ain’t for me. I want my kids to say, ‘Oh, do you want to come around to my house?’ to [their] mates. I never brought my mates out [because] I was ashamed, really. And that’s why I work so hard. I want my kids to bring the mates home and to go, ‘Oh, look at my house.’ That’s it.”

That relentless drive is for his two children: a daughter named Betty and a son named George. Moreover, Allen has racked up a respectable record of 25-8-2. And has major fights against the likes of Frazer Clarke, Luis Ortiz, Dillian Whyte, and more. His last appearance in the squared circle was earlier this month when he defeated Karim Berredjem in a six-round bout. 

Despite his own work in various fields of boxing, including promoting other fighters, the 33-year-old himself is currently signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. Regardless, there’s another reason Allen works so hard—he was once forced to nearly quit boxing. 

Dave Allen could have cried after getting a call to fight

Allen’s career was nearly over before it began, as he found himself on the brink of quitting for good. In fact, he intended to get a normal job before a last-gasp opportunity saved his career. On his worst day, Allen was paying £2,000 of his own money to get on small shows and struggled to support his family. Allen even admitted the end felt near. 

“My missus said, ‘David, this has got to stop now… You’re gonna have to get a job because we can’t keep living like this.’”

With two kids and bills piling up, Allen knew time was running out. 

“If nothing would have come up by Christmas, I would have had to get a job by November,” he said. “I was literally six weeks away from having to say, ‘You know what? It’s done, it’s over.’”

Then came the life-changing call to fight Johnny Fisher in Saudi Arabia. 

“I could have cried,” Allen admitted. 

The bout revived his career and reignited his belief. He ended up losing the fight. But don’t feel bad for him because it was close enough to warrant a rematch. Five months later, this time in the UK, Allen defeated Fisher via a fifth-round knockout. 

Dave Allen has plenty of reasons to continue fighting, as the fans clearly have a taste for it. Still, for Allen, it’s his kids’ future that pushes him to make the most out of his career. What do you make of his motivations?