Joey’s Corner: A requiem for Dave Allen, belief and the heavyweight underdog

Dave Allen fell agonisingly short on Saturday night, with Russia’s bear-wrestling behemoth, Arslanbek Makhmudov, outpointing the ‘White Rhino’. 

With one eye on Joseph Parker vs Fabio Wardley, including a look at the odds ahead of that heavyweight showdown, Betfred’s senior boxing journalist Joey Mills asks; is it the end of the underdog heavyweight?

The Steel City saw a painful reality check on Saturday night. A career that brought blood and belief in equal measure reached a crossroads and turned into oncoming traffic. 

We had dared to believe. I dared to believe. And why the devil not? ‘The Doncaster De La Hoya’ had come back from the brink. Dave Allen retired in 2020 at the age of just 28, with a ledger of 18-5-2, citing frustrations at the business side of the sport. 

Allen had given us everything as observers of this sick and scintillating sport. Brave and unbowed showings in brutal losses to luminaries like Dillian Whyte, Luis Ortiz, Tony Yoka and David Price. But after struggling to find fights, the Doncaster heavy jacked it all in.

Boxing retirements are about as reliable as the long-term plan for HS2, so the lovable lug returned. They all do. Four victories over four and six rounds followed. Frazer Clarke was the dose of reality this time, stopping him in the sixth of a 10-rounder. Note to Dave: swerve the Olympians, mate.

But Allen doesn’t swerve anyone, which is why the boxing nation was so besotted with his rise post-Clarke. Seeing off a pair of loss-column frequent flyers netted Allen a fight with Johnny Fisher, the ‘Bosh’-shouting ‘Romford Bull’.

Expected to be a high-profile face on the 12-0 puncher’s record, Allen gave Fisher fits all night long in Riyadh last December. A Christmas cracker that packed enough punch to knock your Nan’s paper crown off at the dinner table. Dave dropped Fisher in the fifth round of a scintillating contest. Few agreed with the Romford man being awarded the split decision win over Allen.

But, when a fight is that good, a rematch is well-justified. The big boys did it again, at the venue Matchroom supremo Eddie Hearn rechristened ‘The Copper Bosh’ in London. The house in which Fisher annihilated Croatian toughie Alen Babic in seconds. But the arena's new nickname would not last the night. Allen saw off Fisher in five star-making rounds. After 13 years of toil as a professional, it was Dave’s turn to be the A-side.

Allen and Hearn spoke openly about the Yorkshireman being given a list of opponents to pick from. No messing about from the 33-year-old. He had spent his career as an underdog and was not about to stop now. Rather than a fun little homecoming, Allen picked murderous puncher Makhmudov. Nineteen stoppage wins in 20 fights. Gulp.

Agit Kabayel, perhaps the best heavyweight today never to have won a world title, and Italian trier Guido Vianello had dented the Russian’s air of invincibility in stoppage wins. But Makhmudov still opened as the favourite and stayed there. On Saturday night, we saw why. 

Dreams are not always fulfilled or broken. Sometimes they are simply sullied, muddied and obscured by reality. Allen boxed bravely and not a single soul in the Sheffield Arena this weekend could have faulted his effort. But Makhmudov was quite simply better than him.

A controlled display is atypical for the one they call ‘Lion’. His remit has always been kill-or-be-killed knockout glory. But after finding himself on the latter half of that scenario twice, Makhmudov instead exercised patience. Allen caught him with a few meaty shots, but his 6-foot-6 quarry was smart enough and restrained enough to not get drawn in.

So Allen’s hopes of immortality were not dashed against the rocks of the elite. Rather, they were carried out by the tide until they were an elegiac dot on the horizon. On Thursday, Allen told me how his dream was to win and be seen as a “top fighter”. In the aftermath, he sadly confessed during his post-fight interview “I’m not good enough, he’s top 20 in the world, I am not.”

Has there ever been a harder time to be a heavyweight underdog? Undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk is the favourite every time out, leaving a broken pile of long-priced bodies beneath him. Moses Itauma is blasting out all comers and likely will until he is moved into true world class. If Tyson Fury ever makes good on his comeback promise, he will be the clear favourite against anyone not named ‘Oleksandr Usyk’.

Daniel Dubois injected fresh hope into the plight of the underdog with his knockout win over Anthony Joshua, before succumbing to Usyk at Wembley in July. But even then, ‘Dynamite’ was hardly a rags-to-riches tale. The big-punching Dubois had been tipped for stardom since his time on Team GB.

The same destined-for-greatness tag can be applied to Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke, albeit a knockout loss last year slowed the rise. ‘Big Fraze’ contests the British title with Jeamie TKV later this month. His opponent is the underdog there. Could the 31-year-old Tshikeva, 8-2 with five knockouts, upset the applecart? I’m not overly convinced, but the fight should be explosive while it lasts. 

Guido Vianello, who is one of two men to beat Makhmudov, once again made a mockery of those who seek to devalue his abilities on Saturday. 

Hours after his old foe had soiled the Allen dream, the Italian stained the 12-0 record of Canadian hope Alexis Barriere in five rounds. After beating Makhmudov, taking Efe Ajagba to the limit and acquitting himself well against Richard Torrez, the signs were there. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Vianello is flying the underdog flag, but soon he may not be alone. Fabio Wardley takes on former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker later this month. His unbeaten record does not quite have the Rocky Balboa charm of Allen’s 24-8-2 ledger, but the Ipswich man is still a Cinderella story. 

Wardley started on the white collar boxing circuit, taking four unlicensed bouts before blinking in the light of the pro game. Unpolished and unproven, the Suffolk star was helped immeasurably by the fact he hit like a Mack Truck. After a debut decision win, Wardley did not trouble the judges for his next 16 fights.

By the time the scorecards were read out at another Wardley contest, he was the defending British and Commonwealth champion. He blasted Nathan Gorman for the former title and David Adeleye for the latter. The former white collar slugger was a superstar.

Those aforementioned judges rendered a split draw in Wardley’s March 2024 defence against Clarke. An utterly thrilling scrap, the two big men could not have been more different out of the ring or more well-matched inside it. Which made the result of the rematch even more stunning. Wardley knocked Clarke out in one round a year ago, leaving the Olympian with a gruesome jaw injury.

Wardley has conquered this level and made moves towards the world scene when he finished Justis Huni in June. But the Australian gave the devout Tractor Boy hell at times. However, victory breeds opportunity in this game, no matter how you win. So Wardley gets a chance to move within a hair’s breadth of immortality.

In the opposite corner will be Joseph Parker. In my view, the most deserving heavyweight contender on the planet. If a run of six consecutive wins that includes victories over Zhilei Zhang, Deontay Wilder and Martin Bakole does not get you a shot at the champ, I truthfully do not know what will. 

Which is why Parker is a 2/11 favourite at the moment. Wardley might be 19-0-1, but at 4/1 he is extremely unfancied. We have seen the destruction he is capable of at British level. But Parker is the best heavyweight in the division outside of Usyk, based on current form. 

Can Wardley harness the same belief that Vianello created in me? That Allen did in all of us, albeit without the crowning glory of the referee raising his hand? He has his punch, the ineffable bang that only Clarke has survived in a championship-rounds fight (and even then, only once). But does he have enough craft, wile and guile to trouble New Zealand’s most effective import?

The truth is we don’t know. As I always say; that’s why we have the fights. I will save the analysis and predictions for another time. Because this is not about what happens when the bell rings. It is about the desires and dreams this sport conjures in all of us before a punch has even been thrown.

I spent time with Dave Allen on two occasions in the build-up to the Makhmudov bout. In the past, I have interviewed the ‘White Rhino’ and been left corpsing. True belly laughs shared over his wild-and-wooly tales of family life and gym pranks. 

But I looked in Allen’s eyes ahead of this ominous outing and I saw a longing. When I asked what motivates him, Dave replied “I want to be known as a good fighter. If I win this one, I could be known as a top-level heavyweight. I’d like that.” A humble dream in an era where everyone either wants to be undisputed champion or sit on a pile of Jake Paul’s money.

Allen over-corrected in his post-fight interview, in my view. In his disappointment, the Brit disqualified himself from the brackets of worthy heavyweights. Granted, David Allen from Doncaster will likely never win the world championship. But for a night, he made us all believe in him.