Arslanbek Makhmudov and Dave Allen were involved in a 12-round battle this past weekend.
Makhmudov came into he bout with severe questions. Despite standing over 6ft 5in” tall, he has twice been stopped in previous bouts, once against Agit Kabayal in 2023 and once against Guido Vianelli in August 2024.
He had since beaten Ricardo Brown by KO to take his total to 19 wins from 21 fights. The battle with Allen was full on from the first bell, with him landing big shots from range and Allen walking him down with a high guard in an attempt to tire him out and land left hooks and big overhand rights of his own.
Allen almost got the job done in round nine but ran out of steam and from that point, he admitted to his corner that he had taken too many shots and was drained of energy.
Speaking on iFL TV, Makhmudov admitted Allen gave him the hardest night of his career.
“Toughest fight in my life cause I never did 12 rounds. I never even did 12 rounds sparring.”
He then spoke on Allen’s power and chin.
“Good fighter, good puncher, but he has [the] best chin. It’s not normal brother. It’s not human, it’s animal.”
Allen has said he is keen to fight on, while Makhmudov announced that he is now actively pursuing a fight with Anthony Joshua who is set to return to the ring at the start of next year, having taken more than a year out since his KO defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
