The Beltline: Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen must remember to switch back every seven days

One of the conditions of taking The Substance, a cell-replicating matter that temporarily creates a younger, better version of oneself, is that after seven days the old self and the new self must plug in and switch back. 

You can, in other words, spend only seven days as the new version before having to revert to all you had attempted to leave when agreeing to the procedure in the first place. How you choose to spend these seven days is of course up to you. But if you try to squeeze more than seven days out of The Substance, you will suffer the consequences, grave ones at that.  

This was something Demi Moore’s character, Elisabeth, learned the hard way not long after Sue, played by Margaret Qualley, crawled out of her body on the bathroom floor in act one of the 2024 film The Substance. A faded, 50-year-old celebrity, one whose relevance and success was linked to her beauty, Elisabeth inevitably saw the value in creating a young, better version of herself and just as inevitably fell in love with this version, preferring it to the old one. Chaos then ensued; Monstro Elisasue was born. 

In boxing, there are many drugs available for fighters keen to improve performance or feel like a better, young version of themselves. Yet, thankfully, traces of The Substance have so far failed to show up on any fighter’s drug test. 

Still, that doesn’t mean the idea and principle is new in boxing. In fact, when watching British heavyweights Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen talk so respectfully at a press conference on Wednesday (October 23), there was very much a sense of old version and new version; or an upgraded model coming face to face with its prototype. 

Fisher, you see, is, at the age of 25, everything Allen, now 32, used to be. He is honest, both with his words and in his fighting style, and carries a brand of relatability which promoters look to monetise and fans appear to appreciate. There are some flaws, yes, and a few rough edges, but Fisher, like Allen, never claims to be anything he is not and often conveys a level of self-deprecation which almost borders on parody. 

Together, as they were on Wednesday, Fisher and Allen make quite the double act. To have them then share a ring and fight each other on December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – in support of Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch against Tyson Fury – makes complete sense. 

“It’s a fight I wouldn’t have taken if I didn’t think I could win,” said Allen. “It depends how good Johnny Fisher is. If he is really, really, really good, I’m probably in trouble. But if he’s not, I’m just the guy to beat him.”

“I don’t know if I’m really, really, really good,” said Fisher, “but I’m all right, and I can punch, and I train hard, and I’m fit, and I’m strong. I’ve got to be all those things to beat Dave Allen. I know what it’s like sparring Dave Allen. We sparred five years ago when I was 19 or 20 years old and he gave me a bit of a pasting, if I’m being honest. But I knew that day when I walked out of that gym that I’ve got the minerals it takes to be a heavyweight boxer. 

“It’s up to me to set about Dave. He might be my mate but when it comes to the 21st of December, I’m going to give it 110 per cent, and I’m sure he’ll be doing the same.”

If there is a criticism to be levelled at Dave Allen it would have to do with his tendency to sometimes enter fights not fully prepared or prepared to give 110 per cent. He would be the first to admit this and he would say, too, that the persona he has used to make his money has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it has helped him gain a reputation and degree of popularity which exceeds, perhaps, his skill set, yet, on the other hand, it has led Allen into fights against opponents for whom he was considered merely a side act or an amusing, self-promoting punch bag. 

That, for better or worse, is the game he elected to play. Now, as a result, the Allen record stands at 23-6-2 (18) and he has on more than one occasion flirted with the idea of retirement, usually motivated by health concerns or a frustration with the way he was guided – both by others and his own hunger for attention. 

In contrast to Fisher, 12-0 (11), Allen has been matched tough throughout his career and has both the defeats and damage to prove it. His time as a prospect did not last long and, once it became clear that he could talk and sell himself, Allen was offered the chance to sacrifice any long-term ambition in favor of making life-changing money quickly. It was a deal to which he agreed and now, at 32, he feels wiser than most but also older than most. 

“This is my last chance really,” he confessed on Wednesday. “I’ve said that about eight times but I think this might actually be the last one. I’m stubborn. That’s what I am really. There’s nothing really special about me at all. I’m not fast, I don’t punch that hard, but I’m just stubborn. I’ve been around forever, I’ve sparred everyone, I’ve boxed everyone, I’m just stubborn. From round one to 10, I’m going to be there. If he’s (Fisher) the real deal, I’m in trouble. If he’s not, I will beat him.”

With or without The Substance, Allen must surely look at Fisher and see something of himself in him. It might not be a look of regret or sadness, and he might not yet be thinking what could have been, but the similarities are too obvious to ignore. 

Also, what makes this fight between the two so interesting is the fact that both men, although peas in a pod and on good terms, will see in the other something that must be destroyed in order for them to exist. In the case of Allen, he must destroy Fisher, this prospect he once taught a lesson in sparring, just to keep his career alive and remind himself of the natural talent he possesses. Meanwhile, Fisher, the favorite, will aim to beat Allen decisively to stop people drawing similarities between them and instead make it abundantly clear how different they are. 

Because in the end, as the old version and the new version, they can only switch. They cannot coexist.