A local headliner awaits fan-favorite heavyweight Dave Allen.
Doncaster’s Allen is set to face Canadian-based Russian heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov on Oct. 11 at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, England, sources close to the situation told Uncrowned.
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Allen vs. Makhmudov will serve as the main event of a DAZN-streamed show promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Allen (24-7-2, 19 KOs) earned a career-best win in May in London when he knocked out the undefeated Matchroom prospect Johnny Fisher in the fifth round. It was a rematch of their first contest, which took place this past December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fisher won a contentious split decision on that occasion, although many felt that Allen deserved the nod.
Following Allen’s second win over Fisher, Hearn’s Matchroom exercised a two-fight option on Allen. The first of those bouts will be against Makhmudov.
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In December 2023, now-top-10 heavyweight Agit Kabayel shocked Makhmudov (20-2, 19 KOs) and ended his unbeaten run. Makhmudov rebounded with a win in May 2024 but was stopped again by Guido Vianello this past August in Quebec. After knocking out Ricardo Brown in June, Makhmudov is set for another chance in a big heavyweight fight.
Also expected to land on the Oct. 11 fight card is a British and Commonwealth middleweight title defense for Kieron Conway (23-3-1, 7 KOs) against George Liddard (12-0, 7 KOs), as well as the English super welterweight title rematch between Junaid Bostan (10-0-1, 8 KOs) and Bilal Fawaz (9-1-1, 3 KOs).
Liddard and Conway were both on the Fisher vs. Allen 2 undercard, where they produced impressive stoppage victories. Their domestic encounter represents a crossroads matchup between a top prospect on an upward trajectory and a battle-hardened contender looking to work his way back up to another big fight at the world level.