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Late on a Saturday night, in front of 10,000 fans in Sheffield, dave allen I fell short His bold attempt to move up the heavyweight rankings,
It’s a cruel reminder of the levels of a business that many people believe are easy to overcome. Allen had the motivation, the desire, and the fans, but after 12 rounds, Arslanbek Makhmudov raised his hand in victory.
Alan has changed his life over the past yearShowed determination and ambition in the gym and in fights, but the jump to the very edge of the top, top tier of the heavyweight division was just a short distance away.
“I’m no good at all,” Allen said. It felt like an apology from a dedicated crowd, and there was no need for it. Alan’s rise has been a good story, a boxing A story of redemption and hope, and fans flocked to see the man known as “Doncaster De La Hoya”.
It was a brutally contested battle from the start, and there were moments when it looked like a fairytale ending; Allen never stopped swinging and finished the 12th and final round with a series of looping punches that missed the exhausted Makhmudov’s chin. Perhaps this was the only way the fight could end.
The score was largely in favor of Makhmudov, making him the winner by rounds four, six and eight. However, Allen made every single round competitive.
The simple story of the fight is that Allen was hit very often and very hard by Makhmudov’s big, rising right hand. He threw punches that no one had faced in the past. Makhmudov’s statistics are impressive; Of the 20 men he defeated, he stopped or knocked out 19 of them and 13 of them in the opening round. She never left Alan, but he hurt her. Allen admitted this long after the fight.
At the end of the ninth round, Allen caught and hurt Makhmudov severely, and with about 10 seconds remaining, it looked as if he might finish the fight. Makhmudov was staggering, dazed and confused, but the bell rang, and he had fully recovered by 11 o’clock.
Alan had missed his chance; It showed another side of Makhmudov, it showed that he can still stand tall even after getting hurt late in the fight. Many veterans realize too late that they are weak after eight or nine rounds.
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After the fight, Allen wondered if fans would come out to see him fight again – and they would make no mistake. Allen must first take a close look at the performance and determine what he wants to do. He is currently 33 years old and has been a professional since 2012. This was his eighth defeat in 34 matches. And, importantly, he reached a level.
Before meeting Makhmudov, there was bold talk of a fight with former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. Allen vs Wilder would have been a huge attraction, a fight a year or two ago would have been a pipe dream.
Domestically, Allen also has other options; They have also started taking care of the fighters and can be developed in such a way that they can remain active and in business. Big Dave has some tough decisions to make. “I’m not finished,” he warned.
It was also in many ways the most important fight of Makhmudov’s career to date. The Russian was a force to be feared in the heavyweight division for a time, until he was slowly and then painfully beaten and stopped by Agit Kabayel in 2023. It was a shocking finish, and then there was another loss last year.
It seemed as if Makhmudov’s rise was over. He needed Allen’s win, and it also showed that he can go the full 12 rounds and win a grueling fight; This is an invaluable lesson in the heavyweight business.
In the end, instead of Allen calling out Wilder, Makhmudov called out Anthony Joshua, which is a fight that could be manufactured and sold so easily. It is rumored that Joshua could return to the ring in late December. This will end a long relegation and serve as a perfect warm-up fight for something bigger next year.
In the secret and not so secret corridors of boxing, there is once again talk of a fight between Joshua and Tyson Fury. Both boxers will need a practice fight; Joshua has not fought since losing to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, and Fury has not fought since his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk in December last year.
It wasn’t Allen’s night, but it still felt magical at times as 10,000 people were entertained by boxing’s most unlikely heroes – and one of the best in the business.