“This is everything to me. Filip Hrgovic is my goal. If I beat Filip Hrgovic Saturday, I’m not interested in what comes after. Genuinely not bothered,” said Allan during Thursday’s final press conference.

“If I beat Filip Hrgovic, I might just put my gloves down in the middle of the ring and walk away. This is it for me. This is the big one. This is everything to me.

“My dad been begging me for 15 years. ‘David, train. David, train. David, you can be heavyweight champion of the world.’

“Everyone’s always begging me, ‘Do this, do that. You’ve got so much talent.’

“And Saturday is the culmination of 18 years. I first watched Doncaster play 18 years ago and everyone said to me, ‘You can do this, that and the other,’ and I pissed it up the wall to be honest for 18 years.

“Been an absolute nightmare for 18 years. Just been better the last couple of years but still a bit lazy.

“But Filip Hrgovic, you are my everything.”

Hrgovic immediately laughed before replying from across the stage.

“Thank you, my love,” said Hrgovic. “I love you too.”

Allen then realized how the comment sounded and joked with the crowd.

“This is it. This is the big one. Whatever win this fight and people will say you can box so-and-so, you can box this one. This is Doncaster. This is the one.

“I can’t promise I’ll ever train like this again. I can’t promise I’ll go to bed early every night. I can’t promise anything. But Saturday night, Filip Hrgovic.

“No, that sounds a bit weird actually.”

The heavyweight fight headlines Saturday’s DAZN card in Doncaster.