David Allen says he has nothing to lose and everything to gain when he steps into the ring on Saturday to take on Dillian Whyte for the vacant WBC International heavyweight title.

Allen is relatively inexperienced in professional boxing but he has a good record from his 10 fights so far, having won nine and drawn one.

The 24-year-old recorded five straight victories after turning pro before the judges couldn’t pick out a winner in the clash with Plamen Nikolov back in 2014.

Yorkshire’s rising star added another four scalps to his tally since that draw with the latest triumph coming against Jason Gavern, who retired in the contest.

The ‘White Rhino’ now faces arguably his biggest test to date when he goes head-to-head with Whyte in Leeds as the duo look to end a heated feud.

A war of words has ensued over social media in the build-up to the bout and there will be no love lost when the two boxers take each other on.

Whyte has won 17 of his 18 fights so far, losing only to Anthony Joshua last December, and Allen believes the pressure will weigh heavily on his opponent.

“Everyone expects him to go beyond the domestic level so it’s not going to look good when I beat him,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt me.

I will have to build myself up as I was doing anyway. The pressure is on him not me. And I’m going to make the pressure count.”

Whyte is the firm 1.13 favourite to record the win, a draw is priced at 34.00 while Allen is a 6.00 chance to cause what would be a big upset against his Jamaican-born opponent in Yorkshire.