Robert Allen (born June 7, 1969) is an American former professional boxer from Atlanta, Georgia. He fought three times for the middleweight world championship.
Early life
Robert, the youngest of nine children born to Albert and Janette Allen in Houma, Louisiana, graduated from South Terrebonne High School in 1987. In 1988 he moved to Los Angeles where he struggled to find work, lived in a car and became a part of the "Tent City" community of homeless. He would then join the U.S. Marine Corps where he served between 1988 and 1992.[2]
Nicknamed Armed & Dangerous he has held several minor titles and fought for the world middleweight title three times against all time great middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. The first fight ended in a no contest when Hopkins was pushed out of the ring by referee Mills Lane when he was breaking a clinch. In the second fight Hopkins knocked Allen out in the 7th round, while in the third Hopkins would score a wide unanimous decision.
Personal life
A father of four, Allen would work as a trainer at the Paul Murphy Boxing Club in Atlanta, Georgia after retiring.[2]
In 2001, his sister Betty May Allen was shot and killed by her boyfriend Donnie Lee Gray who then shot himself before police would arrest him.[3]