Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen Predictions: The war to settle the score in London

Johnny Fisher goes back into the ring with Dave Allen this Saturday, May 16 at the Copper Box Arena in London. The heavyweight rematch will be screened live on DAZN. The WBA intercontinental championship, which Fisher won in the first outing, will be on the line.

Here are my Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen predictions ahead of this heavyweight slobberknocker.

Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen Odds

Fisher is a 4/9 favourite having won the first war these two shared. Allen is 21/10, a good price considering how close the first bout was. A draw, not out of the question, is available at 16/1.

Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen Fight Preview

Sometimes, rematches come about because the first fight was so enthralling it makes sense to enjoy the box office boost of doing it again. Sometimes, fighters meet again because their first bout was controversial in some way. As Fisher prepares to climb through the ropes at the “Copper Bosh” he calls home, he does so for a rematch with Allen that fulfills both criteria.

These two first faced off on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s second win over Tyson Fury, back in December. The main event showed the technical side of heavyweight boxing as Fury bettered his performance from the first bout and Usyk elevated his own level to stay ahead. In the sort of beautiful contrast boxing serves up so well, Fisher and Allen was a bombs-away slugfest of the most primal order. The duality of the squared circle.

Their first collision saw Fisher take control early, fitting for a man with eight knockouts in the first two rounds from 13 fights. But the king of ‘Bosh’ soon found out that Allen was not going to fold. ‘The Doncaster De La Hoya’ spent most of the middle rounds clubbing the resistance out of Fisher, knocking him down in the fifth and coming close to stopping him in the sixth.

As the two men tired, the blows did not stop coming. They hit each other as if they were daring the other to knock them out. Somehow, Fisher and Allen heard the final bell in Riyadh. Many thought Allen had done enough to emerge with the decision, your scribe included. But Fisher was awarded a split decision. Hence, we await the rematch.

There is a lot of belief in the markets that Fisher will address the issues he suffered last time. While most thought ‘The White Rhino’ did enough to beat him, the Essex slugger is still the favourite.

That might be unfair on Allen. As well as coming agonisingly close to winning the first fight, ‘The White Rhino’ has a deceptive record. 23-7 does not set the world alight in pure numerical terms, but drill into those losses a little bit and a picture is painted of a fighter who will shirk no challenge.

Of the seven men to defeat Dave Allen, three have got Olympic medals in their trophy case. A further two have challenged for world titles. The remaining two are a Commonwealth heavyweight champion and Fisher.

That is proof positive that Allen will fight any heavyweight in the world. That resume, combined with big wins over the likes of ex-WBA regular king Lucas Browne and Nick Webb, is impressive. Not every fighter comes into the sport destined to go unbeaten or win the big four belts. But few big men today can say they have so readily taken hard fights like Allen.

This bout with Fisher is another one. It could be argued that this is the biggest fight of their respective careers, for differing reasons.

For Fisher, it is a shot at redemption. People moronically deride the Romford big man as a “ticket seller”, a pejorative phrase aimed at fighters who are wildly popular but seen as domestic level-only propositions. The perception he was lucky to get the decision against Allen hasn’t helped. 

Fisher has almost been a victim of his own success. His 13-0 record is no worse than most British boxers who reach that mark unbeaten. In fact, it is arguably a little better. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua weren’t fighting world-beaters at that stage either. I’m not saying ‘The Romford Bull’ will one day hold the heavyweight crown, but the fact he has scored impressive knockouts of journeymen and gatekeepers is not to be sniffed at.

Allen is in a tough spot, too. Since returning from his 2020 retirement the following year, the likable Doncaster lad has done what was expected of him and nothing more for the most part. Six beaten journeymen, four by knockout. But the big fight, the one with Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Frazer Clarke, ended with Allen getting stopped in round six. 

For Allen, top of the bill in a London arena is perhaps not where he expected to find himself. But ‘The White Rhino’ has his name up in lights, deservedly after serving up a classic in the first fight. Now Allen must find a way to not only reproduce the form that shook Johnny Fisher to his core, but to better it.

Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen Full Card

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Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen Prediction

A lot of writers would try to hide this information from you, but I’ll front up. Loyal reader, I made a right hash of calling the first fight between these two. I had Fisher to do the job in rounds 1-3. I wasn’t the only one. ‘The Romford Bull’ is a fast starter and he did start fast on the night. What I did not expect was Allen to walk through everything Fisher could throw.

That sort of performance is hard to conjure twice. But we know these men can hurt each other. That is why the first bet of a two-part prediction will be the Price Boost of two or more knockdowns in the fight, up from 5/4 to 6/4. Fisher went down in the first one while at times it looked like some invisible pugilistic force was holding them both up, such was the heaviness of the leather exchanged. I think we get more than one knockdown this time.

Now the hard bit. For my money, Allen won the first fight. I don’t think it was quite a robbery, that phrase is overused nowadays. Not every close fight that goes to the guy you thought lost by one round is a robbery. 

However, I think we saw the absolute best version of Dave Allen last time. He was impeccable. We did not see the best Johnny Fisher. I believe the Essex puncher will make wholesale improvements this time.

Don’t get me wrong, Fisher won’t turn up shoulder-rolling like James Toney or punch-picking like Sugar Ray Leonard. But he will keep his chin out of the way a little more often, be a bit more patient with how he distributes his power. Allen will still give him one hell of a night, but I think Fisher wins. Despite everything, despite my prediction coming up short last time, I’m having Fisher by knockout at 13/8. 

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