Aberdeen boxer Lee McAllister has jetted to another continent in a bid to fight for the first time in more than a year.
McAllister had eight bouts cancelled in the United Kingdom due to the pandemic.
The 38-year-old is now in Ghana where he will fight Korley Collison – whose record stands at 16 wins, 13 by knockout, and nine losses – tomorrow evening.
McAllister, who is undergoing regular Covid-19 testing in the African nation, will face searing heat in excess of 30 degrees when boxing in Accra.
The Aberdeen Assassin, a former two-weight WBU and two-weight Commonwealth champion, revealed he is fighting for free in Ghana.
McAllister said: “It was hard work to try to get everything sorted out to come across here. Before we flew out, we had to get a Covid test back in Britain and another one as soon as we landed in Ghana.
“It will be a tough fight as my opponent will be looking to put on a performance in his home country.
“He and his team will be hoping I don’t travel well and that the heat will affect me, but I will be ready to box. It will be about 30 degrees when we are fighting, so it will not be an easy time.
“I will just have to box and pick my shots without rushing it.”
McAllister insists he had previous plans to fight in Ghana as part of a multi-nation tour before the pandemic stopped them.
That would have taken him as far afield as Argentina – but those plans all fell apart when the coronavirus pandemic hit last March.
He said: “Before the pandemic I had fights arranged in Ghana, Germany, Argentina, Malta and Cyprus.
“I was looking to do an Assassin tour. Those fights were then cancelled due to the Covid outbreak.”
The mercury is set to rise as high as 32 degrees when McAllister fights tomorrow evening.
It is a dramatic change in climate, having trained in deep snow and sub-zero temperatures just two weeks previously in Aberdeen.
He said: “I’m happy to fight anywhere and when this opportunity was put to me I took it.
“I want to challenge myself and came out here to Ghana to take on all comers.
“I have been running in ice and snow back home in Aberdeen – that was my acclimatising!
“I am too long in the tooth to worry about other fighters, so I will just go out and take my time, pick my shots and do what I have to do.”
McAllister is joined in the Ghanaian capital by two fellow Aberdonians from his Assassin Health and Fitness Village – cruiserweight Craig Dick and super-flyweight Kenny Allan.
Former European light-heavyweight champion Danny McIntosh, who McAllister now manages, is also in Ghana and set to fight tomorrow.
McAllister said: “The coronavirus stopped my career.
“Having so many fights cancelled was frustrating.
“It has been a horrible time for everyone due to Covid with a lot of people suffering mental health problems throughout the globe.
“Me not getting a fight is a minor issue compared to what is going on and what other people are experiencing.
“I am just glad to be out and fighting to shed some ring rust before I get back to big fights in the UK. I want to bring big fights to Aberdeen.”
