David Allen Reveals Where He Earned the Most as a Sparring Partner

British heavyweight David Allen (24-7-2, 19 KOs) has shared colorful details of his time as a sparring partner for some of boxing's biggest stars — including Wladimir Klitschko, Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury.

“I made the most money sparring with Wladimir Klitschko. I lied about my height, weight, and fitness just to get into his camp,” Allen admitted. “I wasn’t there long, but he was a great guy. Klitschko had ten sparring partners and treated everything professionally. We each earned £1,500 a week (about $2,000). He was spending nearly £100,000 ($135,000) on sparring partners alone. The sparring was tough, no mercy. But for that kind of money, I wasn’t complaining.”

Allen also praised Usyk for his generosity:

“Usyk paid well too — £2,000 for two weeks (around $2,700). Not bad at all.”

As for Anthony Joshua, Allen revealed he never got paid:

“I didn’t make money sparring Joshua, because we used to spar as amateurs. I helped him in the first few years of his pro career, and maybe I should’ve been paid, but we were mates.”

Allen described his time with Tyson Fury as more casual and friendly:

“Fury would sometimes give me a bit of cash, but he was always kind. We were mates. I’d usually do the early rounds with him while he found his rhythm. He’d then move on to someone else. I sparred him before his fights with Seferi and Pianeta at Ricky Hatton’s gym. There was a KFC nearby — he gave me petrol money, a hundred quid for sparring, and twenty more for KFC.”

Allen recently returned to the ring with a fifth-round TKO win over Johnny Fisher on May 17 in their rematch.