Hard-hitting Dave Allen and the one thing he wouldn’t miss
Dave Allen will be in Ireland this weekend but he had a more important job this week
There are plenty of things South Yorkshire heavyweight Dave Allen is prepared to miss for boxing.
He has spent long spells away from home at training camps. He has missed seeing his pals and the gym-mates he manages and trains.
He has, at various points in his career, appeared to miss the point of boxing altogether. After all, he has admitted that he didn't always train as hard as he should and has spoken openly about struggling with the discipline required of a professional fighter.
But there was never any chance he was going to miss this.
Wednesday was his daughter Betty's first day at school.
So while Allen was expected by the media in Ireland for the open workout ahead of Saturday's huge Croke Park show, he was doing something considerably more important to him. He was taking Betty to school, then going back to collect her.
Explaining his absence on social media, alongside a photograph with his young son George, he wrote: "For those wondering why I’m not in Ireland yet and why I’m not at the open workout, today was my daughter's first day of school and I wouldn’t have missed taking her and picking her up for the world."
Then came the detail that makes it such an intimate glimpse of Allen away from the ring.
"Me and my son with the matching walks (was) nearly as good as her shouting she’s made new friends as she ran out of her classroom."
There is no doubt the boxing matters to Allen. At 34, he has spent almost 14 years as a professional and has fought some of the best heavyweights in the world, including Dillian Whyte, Luis Ortiz, Tony Yoka, Lucas Browne and Filip Hrgovic.
But it has never been a conventional career.
Allen 'retired' in 2020, aged 28, saying he no longer wanted to be punched and wanted a quiet life. He eventually returned and produced one of the biggest wins of his career when he stopped Johnny Fisher in their 2025 rematch, having lost a controversial decision in their first fight.
Defeats by Arslanbek Makhmudov and Hrgovic followed, but Allen has since returned to winning ways and goes into Croke Park with a record of 27 wins, nine defeats and two draws, including 20 victories inside the distance.
His opponent, Thomas Carty, is a 30-year-old Dubliner with an 11-1 record and nine knockouts. Carty has made no secret of his ambition to stop Allen and sees the fight as an opportunity to establish himself at heavyweight.
For the Conisbrough man, it is another major night in a career that has long since stopped following a straight line.
He has already suggested Carty will win the early rounds before his own experience and physical strength begin to tell. Carty, naturally enough, thinks otherwise.
It should make for yet another crossroads fight for The White Rhino, one where preparation is important.
But maybe not quite as important as Betty's first day at school.