GUYANESE junior welterweight Donald Allison suffered his first defeat in the professional ranks on June 29, 1989. Puerto Rican southpaw Jake Rodriguez floored Allison in round four on the way to a six-round unanimous decision.The fight was held at the Felt Forum in New York, USA and was the main event of a six-bout card. Allison was undefeated in six fights going into the battle against Rodriguez. He had started on the professional trail one year earlier.
Allison was born in Guyana but competed mostly in the USA. The skilful 140-pounder was crowned New York State junior welterweight champion in July 1990 following a unanimous win over Jose Avila.
The Guyanese made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the International Boxing Council (IBC) title in February 1991 when he lost by unanimous decision to American Tony Martin. Allison’s career had a life of six years during which time he secured 14 victories, six losses and one draw.
Two of his 21 fights were staged outside the USA. In July 1992 he defeated Barrington Cambridge in Guyana, while in October of the same year Allison lost to Fabian Chancalay in Argentina.
After retiring from fighting, he returned to Guyana, and opened a gym in Agricola. The gym flourished and produced fighters the calibre of Dexter `Chucky’ Wray, a promising amateur, whom he took under his wing.