In what should have been the most important part of training camp, the "White Rhino" simply refused to leave the house. Inside, he slept on the floor because he could not work out how to build his bed and whiled away the daylight hours watching TV.

He experienced fresh air only once every 24 hours, when wandering down to a chip shop on the Doncaster Road called SeaFish for his only meal of the day: fish, chips “and a pint of full-fat coke”. It could not be further removed from the requisite lifestyle of a professional fighter.

But that was 2019 and Allen’s life has changed profoundly since. On Saturday night, when he faces Filip Hrgovic outdoors at Eco-Power Stadium in his first headline slot in his home city, SeaFish will be one of his sponsors.

It is just one of the reference points for perhaps the most remarkable turnaround in recent British boxing history. Allen has spoken openly about his battles with gambling, an addiction threatening his life at one point.

But he speaks to The Ring after completing one of his final sessions of a very successful training camp by the paddock at Doncaster race course.

"This is the best I’ve ever trained," Allen says. "And it wasn’t always like this for training camp.

"But things change. It’s just down to maturity as a man really. I’ve got kids and can’t go missing anymore, my head can’t fall off.

"I used to love going missing, me. I’d be holed up in a house somewhere for three or four days at a time. I can’t do that anymore, it’s maturity that comes with age. I’m a dad now, a great dad as well.

"I have to try my best, I'm at home when I can be for every meal and trying to be healthy for them because there's been parts of my life where, never mind for a professional athlete, I've been in really bad shape full stop."

What it meant against Price was a severe beating, which concluded via 10th round retirement and ended with Allen in hospital with multiple injuries all over his body.

Hrgovic (19-1, 14 KOs) is equally dangerous but Allen knows how to stay safe these days.

"I want to win of course," he adds. "But my No. 1 priority is getting out of the ring safe and sound and you've got to be fit to do that.

"I’ve realised over the years that if you’re not fit, that’s when you get hurt. I’ve been working with my nutritionist Greg Marriott and I’ll be at my lightest weight since 2019 for this fight. But I can still tell you that SeaFish is the best fish and chips in Doncaster and anyone coming to the fight should get down there beforehand."

Given his self-confessed history of self sabotage, you sense that Allen is trying not to allow the magnitude of Saturday’s event to dawn on him too much. A victory outdoors on Saturday night, streamed live worldwide on DAZN, would go down as one of the biggest wins in Yorkshire history.

"If this fight were in London," Allen says, "I would not have a care in the world.

"I’m a very proud Doncaster man. Donny gets a bit of stick for being a bit rough but I’m a Donny man. I’m probably the quintessential Doncaster person; a big, rough chavvy. That's what and who I am.

"I’m proud that the event is here and I’ve been the man to bring it here. I’m going to enjoy every minute of this. I’ve brought a big show to Donny and got a few of my kids that I've trained and managed on the undercard. I'm living the dream so all I can do is my best, that's what I will do and whatever happens, happens.

"It’s a big fight and the older I get, the more nervous and scared I am. I don’t want Hrgovic to chin me and possibly hurt me. I want to get out of boxing with my faculties intact.

“But I have nothing to lose here. Nothing to lose and everything to gain, he is the exact opposite of that. If he beats me I’m exactly where I was last week.”

What that means is back in touch with his dad, himself a former professional boxer, Dave Allen Sr (18-8-4, 7 KOs).

The pair have had an up-and-down relationship over the years and did not speak at all from August until Senior attended his son’s 57-second victory over Karim Berredjem in Nottingham on February 21.

"He was in the hotel after the fight and asked if I wanted him to buy me a drink," said Allen. "I said ‘no,’ and then we sat and watched Leigh Wood against Josh Warrington on someone's phone and we've been talking ever since.

"But we’re not nice to each other. We don’t say nice things to each other. We barely say ‘hello,’ actually, we just talk boxing, horse racing—there is nothing else. He will be there on the night and he’s been my running partner in this camp. He’s 67 years old and can do 5km in about 25 minutes."

So will Allen Sr, whose last professional fight took place at a different Yorkshire stadium, Bramall Lane, in July 1984, be proud of his namesake this weekend?

"It depends how I perform," Allen says. "That’s the truth of it. He’s probably my biggest believer, he’s always said I can be world heavyweight champion, but will also say I’m the biggest disappointment because I haven’t done it.

"But he knows I’ve trained properly for this fight and if I’m good enough I’ll win on Saturday and hopefully that will be enough for him."