Aberdeen boxer Lee McAllister has jetted to another continent in the bid to fight for the first time in more than a year.
McAllister had eight bouts cancelled in the United Kingdom due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Having received the green light to go out to Ghana the 38-year-old is now in capital Accra where he will fight 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 over six rounds.
He will face Ghanaian Korley Collison, who has won 16 of his 25 bouts (13 by KO).
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 coronavirus pandemic stopped them.
Those plans would have taken him as far afield as Argentina.
However they were all cancelled when the sport went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic last March.
He said: “Before the pandemic hit 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 temperature is set to be 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 back home in the Granite City.
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 has not fought since defeating Ghana’s Richmond Djarbeng in a PBC world title fight in Aberdeen on October 5, 2019.
Accra-based former WBA Pan-African title holder Djarbeng quit after the second round.
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 – shed some ring rust before I get back to big fights in the UK. I want to bring big fights to Aberdeen.”
McAllister is joined in Ghanaian capital by two fellow Aberdonians from his Assassin Health and Fitness Village gym – cruiserweight Craig Dick and super-flyweight Kenny Allan.
Allan said: “This is a massive opportunity for me and a huge experience.
“I never thought I would be in another country fighting.”
Dick said: “We are all very fit and have been working hard for this so the heat will not be that big an issue.
“It is brilliant to be fighting in another country.
“Everything is positive for me moving forward. When this chance came along I snapped it up with both hands and aim to make the most of it.”
Former European light-heavyweight champion Danny McIntosh, who McAllister now manages, is also in Ghana and set to fight tomorrow.
McIntosh, 40, also fought for the British title, losing to Tony Bellew in April 2012.
McIntosh said: “The training camp with Lee is the best I have ever been to.
“It is great to be working with him. I feel part of the Assassin family.”
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