Jeamie TKV is targeting Dave Allen for a first defence of the British heavyweight title.

TKV upset Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke in a bruising 12-round battle to win the Lonsdale belt on Saturday, winning a split but deserved decision.

Having previously come close to boxing Allen, TKV is still looking to pursue that fight.

“The [British Boxing] Board chose Frazer Clarke over Dave Allen [for the title fight] because Frazer Clarke beat Dave Allen. But I still want to explore that option,” the new British champion told Sky Sports News.

“I still feel like that’s a worthy fight to take and a worthy fight to do. So I feel like Dave Allen’s probably the right opponent for me next.

“Dave Allen’s the name that I probably would go for.”

Allen lost his last fight when overwhelmed by Aslanbek Makhmudov in October but earlier this year halted Johnny Fisher inside five rounds and he remains one of the most popular figures on the British fight scene.

But after beating Clarke, TKV is confident of victory. “No matter who I fight, I’m retaining that title,” the Londoner said.

TKV is convinced he was on the brink of knocking out Clarke when he had the Olympian badly shaken in the 11th round of their clash.

“I thought I was going to get him out of there but, I’ll be honest with you, I got so excited that I got tired. I started winging left hooks, right hooks, forgetting about any boxing technique,” he said.

“I should have took my time with him but I forgot all about the boxing techniques. One of the left hooks made me fall over, he fell on top of me and that bought him some time.

“But I still went at him, he handled it quite well and when he walked back to the corner his legs were unsteady.”

TKV added: “In the corner Angel [Fernandez], his trainer was asking him: ‘Are you with us? Are you there?’ but he wasn’t really responding. His seconds and everyone else around him thought it would be best to put him back out there because they possibly felt there was one more round he could possibly win the fight on points.

“But that could have been risky in itself because he could have got hit with another big shot and we don’t know what may have happened.”

TKV will be riding a wave of goodwill himself after this latest win into that expected title fight with Allen.

“When people underestimate and you do a little bit better than they estimate, it’s always better. People appreciate you more,” he said.

“I prefer to be the underdog in every fight.”