Dave Allen has started to pile the pressure onto Johnny Fisher ahead of their intriguing heavyweight rematch.

In December, the British pair battled to an entertaining, controversial draw on the undercard of the unified heavyweight title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia. They will renew hostilities at London’s Copperbox Arena on May 17.

The inexperienced Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) has come a long way in a short time and whilst it was widely accepted that the mercurial Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs) had seen better days, the first fight did represent a big leap forward for both in terms of opposition and scale.

Although he repeatedly stated that he felt the fight had come around too quickly for Fisher, Allen presented a modest, friendly front and seemed content to allow his foe to spread his attention across the massive event rather than just the fight.

After making a slow start, Allen grew into the fight. He dropped Fisher with a left hook in the fifth and tightened his grip as the rounds passed. Despite suffering a perforated eardrum, Fisher refused to crumble and forced his way to the final bell, but he did seem fortunate to leave Riyadh with a hotly contested split decision victory.

A rematch was an inevitability and, this time around, "The White Rhino" has adopted a different approach.

Allen is weaving a narrative where the usually rampaging, heavy-handed "Romford Bull" must avoid getting dragged into a fight.

“You’re made for me to be honest because I know I'll draw you into a fight a little bit earlier this time,” Allen told Fisher during an edition of Matchroom’s Cards on the Table. “As soon as you get into a fight with me — and it's not that I'm harder than you or tougher than you — I'm just cleverer than you.

“You could win this fight easily. You could box my head off like the first two rounds, but you can't resist and, at the Copperbox, you will not resist.

“This will be even more hectic than the first one. I want the third one."

After hammering home the point that Fisher’s only route to victory is to avoid getting involved in another grueling battle, Allen then made it plain that he doesn’t believe it is possible for Fisher to have accumulated the boxing skill and composure required to carry out that task.

Whereas the naturally talented but erratic Allen was a former National amateur champion who was good enough to be offered a place on Team GB, Fisher famously started boxing as a way to supplement his rugby union training.

The 10 difficult rounds that Fisher spent in the ring with Allen in Saudi Arabia will have taught him more about the realities of professional boxing than all of his previous fights combined. Allen still believes that the gap in know-how between the two will be too great for the younger man to bridge.

“Talking boxing, you’re a great athlete,” Allen told Fisher. “A phenomenal athlete. You played rugby, you’re fast, strong, powerful. I would say a great athlete, an OK boxer.

“I’m a good athlete and a very good boxer. I’m not having a dig. You've had 12 amateur fights and how many pro fights? You can't be any good. It’s just impossible and I'm not even digging.”