How did you assess your performance?
I’ve not watched it back yet but it felt like early on he was going to be too short for me, but in the middle of the fight I thought I won some rounds, may rounds four, five and six I got back into the fight. He wasn’t throwing much and after six rounds I thought I was in the fight. Rounds seven, eight, nine and 10 it came down to fitness and it played out how it did and he got the stoppage.
Was you frustrated you didn’t get to hear the final bell?
I felt it [the stoppage] was a bit soft but Tony Yoka is very good. You do nine and a half rounds, and he was sharp in the last round but he was sharp in every round. But I wasn’t hurt, I wasn’t showing any signs of distress, he was landing some shots but I was really disappointed not to see the final bell. I don’t know if it was close on the cards but it would’ve been nice to see the final bell and I was just a bit disappointed I wasn’t allowed to do that.
You’ve fought the likes of Dillian Whyte and Luis Ortiz, how good is Tony Yoka in comparison?
He’s an Olympic champion so I couldn’t say he was better than I expected but he was very good. Will he be world champion? Maybe not, but he will get to world level 100 percent, he’s an exceptional talent. I think he will go on to world level, maybe he won’t be world champion but he can compete there. He’s very sharp, he punches extremely sharply and with 10 ounce gloves on they come very keen. He punches really hard. I’d dare say he’s not the most powerful puncher, but he was the most hurtful and spiteful puncher that I’ve boxed. He wasn’t a heavy puncher he was just spiteful, and he’s a very good boxer. He’s extremely fit, he came out for round 10 like it was round one, which I found very strange. Rounds five and six I was very confident I could turn it around and I could cause him problems late and next thing you know he was coming out fresh off his stool.
You took the fight on three weeks’ notice, how did you feel entering the contest?
I wasn’t 100 percent fit, I wasn’t in the best condition but I went over there to win. For me it was a personal best performance of my career, I have people saying do this and do that but I don’t think they watched the fight. I won rounds against an Olympic gold medallist, I gave him problems and boxed well. The experience of main-eventing in Paris was something I never thought I’d do in my life and I couldn’t believe it, overall it was brilliant.
How was the experience of boxing away in France?
It was good and bad for a lot of people, he was an Olympic gold medallist and I had the chance to fight him, there’s the difference he’s an exceptional fighter. People can say what they want about me, I don’t care. I’m just a young man still early in experience I’ve still had under 30 fights amateur and pro. I’m just enjoying it, doing my best and I’m just trying to make a living. It’s alright saying you should do this and that but you come and put food on my table and I’ll happily fight four rounds and not get paid if that’s what they want me to do. But all I can say is that I’m just enjoying my life and my career, I’m more confident than ever I can pick up domestic titles, I’m getting better all the time. I have no complaints, nothing at all I’m just doing me.
What made you accept the fight?
I was coming off four round fights and where was I going really? I got offered the [Daniel] Dubois fight and got talked out of that, I was just sat waiting around not doing anything really. When you get offered the chance to fight in Paris in the main-event against an Olympic gold medallist, anyone in my position that would turn that down would be an idiot. I’m not saying I’ve not got aspirations but I’m not being hyped as the next world champion or the next anything, I’m just Dave Allen. I’m just a boxer, I love fighting, I love it, I just love fighting. People think I’m crazy saying why would you do this why would you do that but I just love what I do and I don’t care what anybody says. I think I proved I’ve done alright, I’m a very strong, tough man and even in defeat I’m taking top level fighters rounds and doing bits and pieces and when I drop back down to domestic level I can really compete.
What’s next for you?
I want to get busy now, and get a few wins, I’m financially stable enough now to be boxing without any worries and be able to fight without getting paid which is what I might have to do now, I want to try and rack up three or four wins against loads of domestic level journeymen and get maybe get a British or Commonwealth shot, I’d even box for the English title, I’m really not bothered I just want to box and be involved. I will genuinely fight anybody. The way boxing is right now though I have to get a couple of wins and that’s really sad. I wish I was fighting in the 50’s, they fought all the time, I would have fought Dubois this Saturday coming and Joe Joyce the next. But now you get too many losses and nobody wants to work with you and it really frustrates me, as I want to fight and fight regularly.
When do you plan on fighting next?
I have to wait 28 days because I was stopped, but as soon as those 28 days are over, I’ll be out by the end of July. I’ll be out straight away, I want to be out as much as possible, probably not televised, maybe on some small hall shows, get a few wins and look to get some big fights.
You have been known to be interactive on Twitter, you recently deactivated your account, why is that?
I came off Twitter for a few weeks to just relax. I want a bit of relaxing time, some of the people on Twitter are the greatest people but I think sometimes I give too much of myself to people on there who don’t have a clue about boxing. I’m only off for a few weeks, when I get back training I’ll come back on there.
