Out to gain fans
Allen ready to hurt top stars IT’S A CRYING SHAME FOR LUKE
ENGLISH cricket is ready to ditch the traditional term of ‘wickets’ in favour of ‘outs’ in a bid to make The Hundred even easier to understand for newcomers.
Runs, balls and outs are set to be the key terms, with the figures counting up when the first team bats and counting down when the second team chases.
So, for example, instead of 150 runs for five wickets from 12 overs, the new teams could be 150 runs
TRACTOR BOY Arnold Allen has ploughed past all comers so far in the UFC and now he is looking to plant himself firmly in title contention.
The Ipswich Town fan made it eight wins in a row at UFC Vegas 23 on Saturday as he secured a unanimous decision victory over Sodiq Yusuff.
Allen, who made his company debut in 2015, has the longest active winning streak in the featherweight division and he is now looking to tackle some of the more established names to climb the rankings.
Not that the ‘Almighty’ is short of experience himself, saying: “I am 27 years old and this is my 18th pro fight and I have had about 40 other fights. with five outs from 60 balls with scoreboards reflecting more simplified details for fans to follow. The new format is just 99 days away. Jofra Archer (inset) is hoping to be one of its stars in its first week when England’s best cricketers will be available for three games, as long as his long-standing elbow injury allows. Archer is expected to be given the all-clear to start bowling again this week.
I don’t know if this will push me up the rankings but I definitely want to move up.
“I don’t want to stay at No.10, I want to fight guys above me and not go backwards.
“At the end of the day, by the end of 2021 I would like to be sitting in the top five. I would like to fight ‘Korean Zombie’ (Chan Sung Jung), I was always a big fan of his.
“I have studied him my whole life and he is flat-footed,
OLYMPIC gold medallist Luke Campbell admits he cries when he loses in the ring.
The two-time world title challenger has been defeated four times as a pro since triumphing at the 2012 London Games and claims it is natural to shed a few tears.
“I’ve cried so many times when I have been beaten,” said the lightweight, who has lost world title fights to Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko and Venezuelan Jorge Linares.
“As a grown man, I will be in the ring and when I have been beaten, I will stand there and
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“I know he is booked to fight Dan Ige (in June), so maybe I can face the winner of that fight as they are both above me in the rankings.”
In a bruising clash with No.11-ranked Yusuff, 27, Allen came close to finishing the Nigerian in the first two rounds, before having to soak up some pressure late on.
While the Brit got the nod from the judges, Allen, who has now won his last four bouts on points, knows an eye-catching KO or submission would have helped his claims for a future clash with champion great and
Icry because it’s so upsetting. I’ve got so much passion and it means so much to me, it really gets to me when I lose.
“But I don’t think it’s bad to cry at all, it’s natural.”
Campbell, 33, admits he was in tears after losing his last fight to Ryan Garcia at the start of the year and says his family help pick him up.
“I can remember the last time I cried – in January, after my last fight,” he told life coach Jill Ritchie in the She Loves Herself podcast.
“I got beaten and I cried. I
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Alexander Volkanovski.
Allen added: “Two prospects trying to break through is always going to be a tough fight. It’s not like when you get a young prospect fighting an old veteran.
“Sometimes the prospect blows away the veteran and stakes his claim. When it’s two prospects, it’s usually a tight match-up. All respect to Sodiq. He’s tough as hell.
“Perhaps I spent a little too much energy chasing two finishes.
“In the third, he came out and pressured. I fought a bit safe, knowing I was two rounds ahead. I was a little bit tired from hunting the finishes.
“However, I haven’t had a knockout finish in a while. I know how hard I hit, but I haven’t proven it to the world yet. I need to prove it. There was a lot of pressure on myself to get that finish.
“When I fight people, I don’t think they give me a lot of respect. Do I get the respect off this fight? I don’t know, maybe.” accept I’m going to be down and in a mood for a couple of days, but then I look at what I’ve got, count my blessings and pick myself up again.
“I get embarrassed having to go out after something like that because my pride is hurting.”
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