Exclusive Boxing Interview: Allan Green

“I’m Willing To Fight Anybody At 160-168!”

What has boxing come to when one of the sport’s best prospects cannot land a quality fight? This seems to be the case for the Tulsa, Oklahoma native Allan Green, 21-0 (15). It is truly puzzling to me why any of today’s top fighters in the super middleweight division will not put their names on the dotted line next to Green’s. Of course, there was some talk of Green fighting the 168 pound champion Joe Calzaghe sometime in the fall of this year but Green simply brushed those rumors aside. “He (Calzaghe) wasn’t serious. His camp offered us a deal just for the sake of making a offer. Anybody in their right mind wouldn’t have taken that deal.”

Some boxing pundits would even argue that Green is not ready for Calzaghe at this point in his career. Green would even agree to that assessment to an extent, by confirming that at this moment in time he feels he has yet to reach his full potential but he would certainly not hesitate at the opportunity to fight for a world title. So the question still stands, if Calzaghe is currently out of the picture, then who would Green want to fight? “Peter Manfredo,” Green replied. “Because he is known. I’d even fight Jeff Lacy, it doesn’t matter to me. I’d go down to 160 and fight Jermain Taylor.”

I believe there was a saying that went along the lines of “hell hath no fury like a fighter scorned.” Well maybe that saying wasn’t exactly right but the newly reconstituted version certainly applies to this circumstance, as Allan Green began to burn almost every fighter at 168 and he started off with a fighter previously mentioned from the reality TV show, “The Contender.”

“First off,” Green began, “Don’t get me wrong, I like The Contender, the show gives lesser known fighters a chance to provide for their families. But these guys come out of this show and they think they are a real champ.” Green laughed. “I can go on Family Feud and win on that game show and call myself a champ.”

But Green’s main frustration comes in the form of Peter Manfredo, who Green says continues to duck him. “He (Manfredo) says he wants to fight the best, but he doesn’t want to fight me. Instead, he is fighting (Joey) Spina and that fight is so bad, HBO dropped it and now its going to be shown on a regional Pay-Per-View.” “I mean, I just don’t know what Manfredo is gonna do.” Green continued. “He should just fight (Sergio) Mora for the next five years and retire.”

Maybe the reason why no one wants to fight Green is because he hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma; a smaller market area and not the traditional LA and NYC boxing hotbeds. Or maybe it is the fact that Green simply destroyed New York’s biggest prospect at the time, Jaidon Codrington?

But Green not short on words, offering his own explanation; “A lot of guys who are in the top ten in my division are simply not fighting,” he said. “I am probably the best prospect in boxing today and I did not get an offer from any of them for a fight.” Green then went down the list of the top fighters in the super middleweight division like he was calling role in a high school gym class.

“Lucian Bute, I got tapes on him, he’s garbage,” began Green. “We offered him a fight for a possible HBO date and he turned us down. (Manny) Siaca, we called him up and I don’t even think he is fighting anymore. Markus Beyer is always hurt, I think this time he twisted his ankle or maybe his dog ate his homework. Jeff (Lacy) has always had a false sense of security, I mean what is boxing coming to when you beat Robin Reid, who is a joke, and then you knockout Scotty Pemberton who lets face it, nothing against Scotty, but he’s got one foot in the grave.”

I then offer the suggestion of possibly fighting the other half of the “Chin Checkers”, Curtis Stevens, in which Green sheepishly replies; “I heard he is retiring.” Myself not catching on, I then said; “I thought he was fighting a rematch with the opponent he just lost to?” Green just laughed and explained; “Curtis is a joke, why would you fight a rematch with a guy who has 15 losses and who just knocked you out? I mean he knows I got to Jaidon and I wish Jaidon all the best but Curtis should just keep his mouth shut! He has been bad mouthing me for a while now, but he shouldn’t open his mouth if he’s not serious about fighting me.”

It seems as if everybody from the 168 pound division is not serious about fighting Allan “Sweetness” Green, no matter what the other fighters might be saying. Green again had to search far and wide for an opponent for his September 1st bout this Friday and eventually stumbled upon Emmett “Laser” Linton, 33-4-2 (15), who is a durable southpaw but has fought most of his career at the junior middleweight division. Linton is nowhere near the caliber of opponent that Green wishes to be fighting at this point in his career.

In closing, Green sternly said; “I’d even go down to 160 to fight (Felix) Strum in his comeback fight. I’m willing to fight anybody at 160-168.” But it seems as if Green has lost almost all faith in his adversaries to actually getting in the squared circle with him. Jokingly Green entertained the idea of a possible career change; “I think I should go into figure skating.” Green said. “The guys in that sport have more heart and they may even be more tougher. But I don’t think I could wear those leg warmers.”

Here’s to hoping to see Allan Green get his wish to enter the ring against a top caliber opponent at 168 or 160 and not seeing him landing triple axles anytime soon.

Don’t miss Allan Green in action this Friday on a Malcolm Garrett promotion at the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino in Tulsa Oklahoma.

SaddoBoxing would like to thank Tony Holden for helping to make this article possible.