William Joseph Allen who was born in England in 1899 won schoolboy titles and the British Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title on a number of occasions in 1919, before he emigrated to South Africa and subsequently claimed two South African professional titles.
Fighting under the name of Billy Allen he has long been forgotten.
He made his pro debut on 25 September 1920 at the Pietermaritzburg Town Hall winning on a second-round retirement against A. Cronje.
At the time according to reports there were so many fixed fights that promoters could not even give tickets away.
Together with contemporaries like Reggie Hull who would go on to win the South African welterweight and middleweight titles in an outstanding career and Johnny Sullivan they rescued professional boxing in Natal.
They were also helped by a John F Burger a promoter who became a close friend with Allen.
At the time, the local authorities would not allow professional boxing to be held at the Durban Town Hall and as a result Burger did not pay the boxers but gave them trophies which they could sell for cash.
After a successful debut Allen went on to score wins against Georg Landman (tko 2) and Johnny Sullivan on a 17th round retirement for the vacant Natal featherweight title, after Sullivan dislocated his thumb.
ELLMORE UNCONCIOUS FOR SIX HOURS
Next up was a first-round knockout win against Young Johnson and a fourth-round knockout victory against Jack Ellmore. The fight against Ellmore was billed as being for Ellmore’s South bantamweight title, but Allen was overweight.
A swinging right hand caught Ellmore behind the head and sent him down face first on the canvas.
According to reports Ellmore was unconscious for six hours and it was quite incredible that he was back in action a week later scoring a twenty round points decision over Johnny Sullivan.
On 30 April 1921 at the Durban Town Hall, Allen stopped W.H. van Rooyen in the fourth round for the South African featherweight title. However, this was disputed by Pat Clancy who claimed the title. According to reports Van Rooyen had won the vacant South African bantamweight title on 21 August 1920 when he knocked out Jack Ellmore in the seventh round.
Billy retained the South African featherweight title with victories over W.H van Rooyen (dsq 2), Clarence Walker (tko 13) Norman Mulligan (tko 7) and Kid Lewis (tko 5). Walker was the bantamweight gold medallist at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.
MOVED UP TO LIGHTWEIGHT
After retaining the South African featherweight title in defences against Norman Mulligan and Kid Lewis he moved up to lightweight and stopped Sticks Turner in four rounds for the Natal title.
Dropping down to featherweight, on 15 December 1922 he beat Seaman Joe Hunt on a 19th round technical knockout in a bout billed for the SA featherweight title, even though it was previously reported that he had relinquished the title because of weight problems.
After four no decision fights, on 14 April 1923 he knocked out Seaman Joe Hunt in the seventh in a fight billed for the vacant SA featherweight title.
SUFFERS FIRST DEFEAT
On 6 October 1923 at the Town Hall in Johannesburg Allen suffered his first defeat as a professional when Alf Simmons (44-16-6) knocked him out in the 18th round. This was the first boxing match to be filmed by artificial light in South Africa, attracting crowds of people to the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg to watch the fight.
Allen suffered his second defeat on 28 February 1925 when he was knocked out in the eighth round by Ernie Eustace.
Eustace was an outstanding fighter who represented South Africa at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris and would go on to win the South African featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles as a professional.
In Allen’s last fight; in a challenge for the South African featherweight and lightweight titles on 20 March 1926, he was outpointed over twenty rounds in a return fight with Eustace to finish with a record 20-3-2-4nd: 18.
After retiring from the ring Allen worked as a barman and then in the Durban harbour. He fought in the North African campaign against Rommel’s forces during World War 11.
Billy died in Durban on 25 May 1958.