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Dave Allen vs David Price result: Imperious Liverpudlian dominates to outclass White Rhino and revive dwindling career

The Liverpudlian was punch-perfect after 10 rounds to force his Doncaster opponent's team to prevent their man from suffering more punishment

Jack Rathborn
The O2 Arena
Saturday 20 July 2019 23:25 BST
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A dominant David Price revived his dwindling career with an imperious display to force a battered and bruised Dave Allen to leave the ring in a stretcher after his corner retired him following 10 punishing rounds.

The Liverpudlian rolled back the years with a shut-out display, punishing a confused and outclassed Allen behind a piston-like jab.

The immensely popular Allen entered the fight riding momentum after knocking out Lucas Browne and immediately dropped his hands from the opening bell in a bid to lure Price in.

Price instead gleefully accepted the early gift of target practice, cautiously picking off the overreaching Allen.

Price was initially content to prod a jab in Allen’s direction and began circling the Doncaster man to leave him out of reach.

With Allen continuing to neglect his defence, Price was able to build on his early advantage with smart counters that multiplied into combinations as he grew in confidence.

Price, a mountain of a man, was delighted to sink his shots from up high, bouncing off Allen to routinely trigger applause from friend Tony Bellew at ringside.

Allen remained undeterred in his straight-line assaults and started to receive crisp uppercuts as punishment from Price for his predictability.

Having scuppered promising beginnings against Russians Alexander Povetkin and Sergey Kuzmin, Price meticulously stuck to his game plan but gradually expanded his repertoire: a swiping body shot seemed to leave Allen confused as he continued piling up the rounds.

Price dominates Allen over 10 rounds (Action Images via Reuters)

The allure of Price throughout his career has been his vulnerability, adding legitimacy to Allen’s windmilling that would otherwise have been seen as a completely desperate tactic. A booming left hook in the seventh appeared to drag Price years back, adding conviction to his game that has long been lost since suffering a series of crushing defeats.

Allen was now badly cut above the right eye entering the championship rounds and it swelled to such an extent it almost completely shut after being peppered repeatedly from Price’s piston-like jab that found a home all night.

And Allen’s corner eventually conceded their man had seen enough punishment with no miraculous comeback in sight, leaving Price’s corner to celebrate in delight.

Price's joyous team branded their man’s victory as a “masterclass”, clinching redemption after suffering for so long.

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