Terry Allen: Legendary British Boxer’s Inspiring Journey
Terry Allen was an English flyweight boxer from Islington, London. He held the British flyweight title and challenged Yoshio Shirai for the world flyweight championship in 1953.
British flyweight champion
Allen lost on points to Teddy Gardner in March 1952 in a bout for the British, Commonwealth, and European flyweight titles. After Gardner retired, Allen won the vacant British title by stopping Eric Marsden in October. Allen defended it against Marsden in February 1954, when Marsden was disqualified for a low blow.
World title challenge and final bouts
On October 27, 1953, Allen challenged Yoshio Shirai in Tokyo for the NBA and The Ring flyweight titles and lost a 15-round decision. He was then stopped by Dai Dower in March 1954. Allen’s final bout came in September, when Nazzareno Giannelli beat him on points for the vacant European flyweight title.
After boxing, Allen ran a vegetable business in Islington Market.
Allen was also a world flyweight champion in 1950. He defeated Honore Pratesi for the vacant championship that April, then lost the title to Dado Marino in Honolulu on August 1. His later challenge against Shirai was therefore an attempt to regain world honors.
Sources
- Royal Albert Hall archive: Terry Allen (career and biography)
- BoxingHistory.org.uk: Terry Allen fight record (compiled from contemporary Boxing News)
- Cyber Boxing Zone: Terry Allen (career record)
- Boxerlist: Terry Allen (fight dates and results)
Career records and reporting: boxinghalloffame.com; hawaiisportshalloffame.com; boxrec.com.
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
