Underdog Truter ready for awkward Allen

Tristan Truter is widely regarded as the underdog for his junior-middleweight clash against Boyd Allen at Emperors Palace on Saturday night‚ but his trainer Harold Volbrecht disagrees.

“I don’t think he [Allen] is a good boxer … he makes a lot of mistakes‚” Volbrecht said at the pre-fight medical on Tuesday.

Truter and Allen are part of the 4@war series that features Roarke Knapp against Brandon Thysse in the other semifinal.

Topping the bill is SA super-middleweight champion Rowan Campbell against national light-heavyweight titleholder Nicholas Radley in a 78‚4kg catchweight contest.

Ricardo Malajika takes on ABU junior-bantamweight champion Mnqobi Mkhize in the main supporting bout.

The junior-middleweight elimination — with the final and third-place fight-off set for early next year — is intriguing.

As a welterweight stepping up one division‚ Truter might be considered to be at a disadvantage.

Again‚ Volbrecht doesn’t think so.

“He’s a strong welterweight‚ he’ll be strong at junior-middleweight and he’ll be comfortable.”

Allen‚ who moved to boxing from mixed martial arts‚ is an awkward opponent who likes to switch between orthodox and southpaw stances.

Volbrecht instructed Tommy Oosthuizen to emulate Allen’s antics in sparring with Truter.

“I know all of his mistakes now‚ all of his weaknesses‚” said Truter‚ who is the tallest of the four.

In terms of professional rounds fought‚ Truter has the least experience with just 20. Allen has 37‚ Knapp 42 and Thysse 74.

Truter was also the lightest of them on the scale on Tuesday‚ weighing in at 69.40kg‚ already inside the limit; the others were north of 70kg.

“I know how to handle his awkward style‚” said Truter.

Allen‚ now training under Peter Smith‚ is promising to deliver something new on Saturday.

“I’m going to show something different this time.”

Thysse‚ a split decision loser against Allen earlier this year‚ believes Truter-Allen is too close to call.

“It’s a very tough fight. It could go either way‚” he said‚ pointing out Truter was a come-forward fighter while Allen was more defensive.

“It will come down to who brings it on the night.”

Thysse‚ with 11 wins (9 KOs) and two losses‚ used to spar regularly against Knapp.

“I’ve known Roarke a while. I know how he fights‚ I know his power‚” said Thysse.

Knapp’s record reads 9-0-1 (7 KOs).

Allen has four wins (3 KOs) and a draw and Truter is 8-1 (5 KOs).