NBA summer storylines we’re still watching, including the Kuminga saga at Golden State
July 26, 2025
Man Utd left-back wants to move to Saudi Arabia
July 26, 2025
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.