Living and working back home in Bonnie Scotland I have a lot less time to write but a hell of a lot more time to think about things due to the prehistoric public transport system. Going just 10 miles up the road takes 1 hour minimum and 2 trains. Now some would see this a negative but the truth be told I have always found trains relaxing, a place where I can tap into my thoughts and even iron some things out internally. The other day this took this to a new level when I had an inner debate which saw me miss my stop and add 20 minutes onto my commute home after a long days work. Sitting there watching the world go by I got thinking about Dave Allen and asked myself the question, is it better to be talented or popular?
This is not a new thought to me, it is something that I have asked myself from my school days. Seeing the bright kids in school who take academical work in their stride but just never really fitting into social circles. Then you had the kids who maybe never excelled in the class room but loved school as it was the original social network, a place to go hang around with friends and get a laugh, I was of the latter of these two groups. I have no doubt in my mind that I had the ability to achieve more in the classroom but i made a choice that my life in the short term would be better being one of the popular group, and even to this day I’m not convinced I made the wrong choice.
Dave Allen is a boxer with very limited skills, yes there is a solid foundation to make a good boxer, but without 100% dedication to this sport there is very little anyone can do with a good foundation ……or is there?
What Dave “The White Rhino” Allen lacks in talent he makes up for with a more sellable asset “popularity” and “Likeability” two assets which have seen Allen get multiple slots on big PPV shows and manoeuvred into commonwealth title positions. We hear Allen tell us time and time again that he has performed poorly because he hasn’t been training right, We even heard that for his last fight he didn’t do any sparring. The Doncaster man has had multiple chances to push forward as a pro athlete, opportunities to enhance his career and see where he can go in the sport but instead chooses to “Play” at boxing.
I have met Dave Allen once and that was on the night before he fought on a PPV show. He was in a kebab shop in London and the next night he went out and picked up his best win to date against Nick Webb so there is something to Dave Allen. Still only 26 years old I still believe Allan has time to screw his head on, knuckle down and bring the best version of himself to the ring, but I don’t think we will ever see it happen. Just like in school hardworking kids are overlooked whilst others just seem to breeze through on their popularity and people skills. I am not suggesting for one second that the skills Allen does possess are not important to make a successful fighter in todays game but they should be used to elevate an already dedicated fighter, It should never work the other way.
The funny thing is that I actually like Dave Allen as he is a nice honest young man and I hope he is making a lot of money because he is taking more and more punishment as time goes on. This article wasn’t really about him and more about the short sighted popularity contest that opens doors for him. Going round gyms for interviews and seeing guys like David Brophy and others go to hell on a daily basis hoping to get in position to maybe get an opportunity at the big time, whilst others have it handed to them because they are good on twitter that is where i have a problem.
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