Heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KOs) outworked a game Dave Allen (24-8-2, 19 KOs) to win a 12-round unanimous decision in their main event fight on Saturday night at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. The scores were 115-111, 116-110, and 117-109.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Allen took a lot of punishment in the fight, particularly in the 11th round. Makhmudov was hitting the tired, red-faced Allen at will with slow, heavy shots to the head. After the round ended, Allen sounded dispirited, talking to his trainer. You could tell that he didn’t have any fight left in him because he’d been hit too much.
The referee, Steve Gray, docked Makhmudov two points for holding in rounds 7 and 12. He was holding a lot, but it wasn’t a factor in the outcome. Allen wasn’t throwing enough and ate a lot of shots.
Results
Bilal Fawaz (10-1-1, 3 KOs) defeated Junaid Bostan (10-1-1, 8 KOs) by a 10-round majority decision to capture the BBBofC English junior middleweight title. It was a back-and-forth contest, making it almost impossible to score accurately. The scores were 96-94, 96-95 for Fawaz and 95-95.
The Nigerian-born Fawaz, 37, hurt Bostan in the third round with a left to the head. He then flurried on him with arm punches, but couldn’t get him out. In the fourth, Bostan hurt Fawaz with a powerful right hand and unloaded a storm of shots while he had him trapped against the ropes. Somehow, Fawaz made it out of the round without getting stopped.
Fawaz was the busier fighter in the last five rounds, throwing arm punches and moving around the ring to keep Bostan from getting at him. When Bostan did get near enough to land, he was connecting with big shots that had the crowd into it. There just wasn’t enough of them.
Josh Padley (17-1, 5 KOs) won a surprisingly wide 10-round unanimous decision over Reece Bellotti (20-7, 15 KOs) in a featherweight contest. Bellotti, 34, got the better of the action through the first six rounds and had Padley hurt with body shots in the sixth.
However, Padley came back strong in the seventh, landing nice combinations. Bellotti seemed to lose power on his punches in the final four rounds to enable Padley to take control. The scores were 99-92, 97-93, and 97-93. Boxing News 24 had it for Bellotti 6-4.
Hamza Uddin (6-0, 3 KOs) stopped Paul Roberts (7-7, 2 KOs) in the fifth round to capture the vacant BBBofC English flyweight title. Uddin, 22, dropped Roberts three times in round five. The final one was a left to the body, causing Roberts to take a knee in a delayed reaction. Robert’s corner threw in the towel at that point. Referee Michael Alexander halted the contest at 2:14 of round five.
DAZN Broadcast and Ring Walk Times
Tonight’s event will be shown live on DAZN, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT. The ring walks are at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET / 1:45 p.m. PT.
Undercard Fights
Josh Padley vs. Reece Bellotti
Junaid Bostan vs. Bilal Fawaz
Hamza Uddin vs. Paul Roberts
Ibraheem Sulaimaan vs. James Chereji
Conner Tudsbury vs. Khalid Graidia
Joe Howarth vs. Kane Baker
Joe Hayden vs. Angelo Dragone
The two heavyweight fringe contenders, Allen and Makhmudov, hope to set themselves up for career-high paydays against top-tier heavyweights. Allen, 33, has gotten new hope with his recent win over Johnny Fisher.
For Allen and Makhmudov, this could be the last chance for them to get a taste of the millions that other heavyweights are making, some of them totally unproven.
The 33-year-old British fighter Allen was given up as a lost cause years ago, but a recent fifth-round TKO victory over Johnny Fisher on May 17 has given him a chance to turn his career around.
His promoters at Matchroom want to line him up with one of the aging top-level fighters if he defeats Makhmudov tonight. It’s questionable whether it’ll happen, but it’s been an excellent promotional strategy to attract interest in Allen’s fight tonight.
Allen’s past losses:
- Johnny Fisher
- Frazer Clarke
- David Price
- Tony Yoka
- Luis Ortiz
- Dillian Whyte
- Lenroy Thomas
Keys to tonight’s bout
Dave Allen: He’s got to overcome the fierce early attack by the 6’5 1/2″ Makhmudov, who will come out fast, looking to take Allen out with one of his huge shots. The size and power that Makhmudov possesses will make things difficult for Allen if he chooses to exchange or stand his ground.
The high guard that Allen uses could be his downfall tonight if he uses that approach. Makhmudov does well against fighters who shell up in front of him. Allen is going to have to fight back because he can’t be a sitting duck behind a high card, hoping to block everything coming his way from the big Russian.
Arslanbek Makhmudov: He must attack Allen early, punch around his high guard to hit him on the side of the head to stun him. When Allen is knocked off balance, Makhmudov must hit him with chopping shots with full force to put him down. If Allen chooses to stay on the outside to stay out of trouble in the first four rounds, Makhmudov must walk him down, and force him to defend.
