The Crawley fighter had wanted to put on a special display as he defended his British super-bantamweight title against Shaun Anderson in Glasgow last night.

As it was, Alldis took a convincing points victory but the contest was a major disappointment with Anderson never giving him a chance to fight.

Alldis said: "That was the worst performance I have had as a professional or an amateur. I am still British champion, but I am not pleased with the way things went because I like a fight that you can call a fight.

"It was a farce really and I was disgusted with the whole thing. Maybe I should have done more to make him fight, but he just didn't let me.

"I like to enjoy a fight. I have lost to Billy Hardy and to Paul Ingle, but I enjoyed fighting. I put up a good performance and I held my head up high afterwards. But this fight was terrible."

Last night's contest was the main attraction on the bill at St Andrew's Sporting Club, where 750 Scotsmen had gathered for an early celebration of Burns Night.

But Alldis showed little respect for Scottish pride as he entered the ring wearing an England football shirt.

Contrast

By contrast, a drummer in traditional Scottish dress played Anderson into the ring, but he was drummed out of it later with little credit for his performance.

Alldis, facing a southpaw for a fourth successive fight, had predicted victory inside six rounds but that looked unlikely as soon as Anderson's intentions became clear.

The fight certainly did not lack passion. At the end of the third round, the boxers clashed after the bell had gone with Alldis pushing Anderson in the chest.

It was a reaction to what he claimed had been a deliberate head-butt which went unpunished.

In the fifth round, Anderson wrestled Alldis to the floor which seemed to get the vociferous Scottish crowd going and at the end of the eighth there was another clash as the pair stood chest to chest for a few seconds after the bell had gone.

In between, there was little boxing of note. Alldis had started well and Anderson struggled to pick up his right hander in the first couple of rounds.

In the third, Alldis got his jab going to good effect while Anderson, always on the backfoot, offered nothing in response.

The theme of the fight was summed up well in the seventh when Anderson was docked a point for holding.

But that decision had no influence on the final outcome as referee Terry O'Connor scored the contest 117-112 in Alldis' favour - a clear indication of the Crawley man's superiority.

Anderson, 30, had stepped up a weight division for this crack at Alldis's title, and it showed.

Alldis said: "I feel sorry for the people there. They paid good money and he didn't want to fight.

"He was a terrible fighter and I just couldn't do anything about it. In the first couple of rounds I was moving nicely, but he then spoiled my rhythm.

He just hit and held all the time."

Alldis, who had the backing of just six supporters from Crawley in the partisan crowd, added: "When you are fighting for the British title, it is not just 10 per cent or 20 per cent. You have to give 200 per cent.

"If he had come and fought me, it would have been a different story. But he didn't come to fight, he came to hold."

Unfortunately for Alldis, his next opponent comes with similar pedigree.

Drew Docherty, who Alldis will meet next, has a better record, having been both British and Commonwealth champion.

But Alldis, who is now just two fights away from achieving his ambition of winning the Lonsdale belt outright, has already dismissed his chances.

Alldis said: "Drew Docherty is a finished article. I am 31, but he is 34 and in his 34 years he has taken some beatings.

"I have always wanted to fight him. He is what I consider to be completely past it now. He has taken too many punches and his body can't adapt to it now, so bring him on next."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.