JUST minutes before Lennox Allen stepped into the ring against American Derrick Webster on February 15, he received a phone call from His Excellency President David Granger; “Good luck, you have my support and that of an entire nation. Guyana is proud of you!”

That message, Allen told Chronicle Sport upon his arrival yesterday, motivated him to the point where he felt that he had to deliver since he was fighting for not only the WBA super middleweight ‘Gold’ title, but for an entire nation.

“I got the message when I was preparing for the fight – in fact, it was a couple minutes before I stepped into the ring. I was just focussing on getting into the ring and doing my job, winning the fight, but when I got the message from the President, my focus shifted from winning the title for myself, to win the title for Guyana,” the charismatic boxer noted.

According to Allen, with his perspective of the fight changing, things became easier for him, telling Chronicle Sport, “When I went into the ring, the entire fight I was so focussed, I knew I would’ve won. I mean, his advantage was that he had a few more fights under his belt. Other than that, I was in really great shape. I was hungry for the belt because I know the opportunities it could open up for me both financially and professionally.”

Allen knocked down Webster in the third round (for a 10-8 round), and was ahead on the scorecards from that point onwards in the fight which took place at the Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota, USA on Friday (February 15).

At the end of the contest, two judges scored the fight 98-91, while the other had it 97-92, all in favour of Allen, giving the Guyanese who goes by the alias ‘Too Sharp’ a Unanimous Decision victory.

Allen, 33, who started his boxing career at Forgotten Youth Foundation Gym, has now improved his ring-record to 22 wins and one draw in 23 outings; maintaining his unbeaten streak.

The defeat was Webster’s second in 30 fights, winning 28, 14 of which came by knockouts.