For a young fighter without a ten-round fight to his credit, Lennox Allen could come across as very brash, maybe even arrogant. But then again, boxing is neither for the meek nor mild, given the blood sweat and tears, literally that are shed in the ring in pursuit of World Championships. And so, this cocky youth without any big names on his resume, is looking to add the biggest name of them all in Guyana even as he prepares for a stiff test against Raphel Romero.
Allen has called out Guyana’s first-ever World Champion, Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis claiming that several of those heads will be removed from the former World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion should he join him in the same ring. Now Lewis is not in his prime, in fact far from it, but he was and always will be Guyana’s first World champion and Allen, no doubt, sees him as a worthy notch on his ‘gun handle’ which he hopes to then use to further his fledgling career. Allen’s camp says he has previously sparred with Lewis and if that is anything to go by, they believe Lewis was given more than he could handle during those sessions. ‘Sixhead’ for his part when contacted by phone would only say he is looking at ‘some other things’ but in a month’s time if Allen is still singing this song, he just might chime in. An informed source close to the action has told Stabroek Sport that “Six has some bigger fish to fry; I’m not talking about snapper or trout but some really big fish to fry in his near future so right now he is focused on that.”
But the source added that should the Allen camp be serious about the man with multiple heads to his credit, then all they have to do is pull a Marlon Brando and ‘make us an offer we can’t refuse.”
The source would not reveal the figure that would guarantee a fight but left it to the Allen camp to ‘crunch some numbers.’ But word is that an unnamed businessman is prepared to back a two million dollar ($2,000,000) winner-take-all fight should both sides be willing to accept.
This type of scenario has never actually played out locally but should present a tempting package to either side.
And while it may not be in the same vein as Holmes/-Tyson it certainly would generate some interest as a youth versus experience match-up. In the meantime, away from all the sabre-rattling and gamesmanship, Allen is busying himself for his toughest assignment yet. A fight with Raphael Romero of Santo Domingo.
While not much is known about Romero, he is rated number two for the FEDECARIBE middleweight title and while that isn’t exactly the top of the pile, it does present Allen with his first acid test. His manager, Carwyn Holland, tells Stabroek Sport that he is excited with the prospects of his newest recruit and foresees a world championship in his future. Allen and Romero will duke it out come October 13 on a fight that will be rebroadcast to the entire Caribbean on a new boxing initiative titled Caribbean Boxing Classic that aims to showcase the premier fighters in the region. Also on that card will be Leon ‘hurry up’ Moore who will go head to head with Romero’s countryman Edison Morillo. Moore was once in the reckoning for a world title shot and will be hoping for this fight to once again catapult him back into the spotlight after pulling a disappearing act.
He is expected in the country on Tuesday to wrap up his training in preparation for the Morillo fight. These fights, though interesting, seem to be setting the stage for bigger challenges for both Moore and Allen. In Allen’s case six heads seem to be better than one.
