Chris Oliver previews Saturday night's heavyweight bout between Dave Allen and giant Arslanbek Makhmudov in Sheffield.
Boxing betting tips: Allen vs Makhmudov
1pt Arslanbek Makhmudov to win by stoppage 7/5 (Unibet, Quinnbet)
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Nothing has ever been normal about the career of Dave Allen, and it takes another massive twist this weekend.
Just over two years after his rollercoaster journey in boxing looked to be over when losing tamely to Frazer Clarke, Allen headlines the Sheffield Arena against Russian giant Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday night.
It has been some turnaround for Allen (24-7-2), who was expected to be beaten when brought in to face the then-unbeaten Johnny Fisher last December, but he was ultimately very unlucky to lose a split decision. He made no mistake in the rematch, as he stopped Fisher in the fifth round, and he looks to have a new lease of life at 33.
The ‘White Rhino’ has been in with some of the biggest names in the division over the last 13 years, usually coming up short but giving fans plenty of entertainment along the way, and this would be his biggest win by far.
Makhmudov was a good amateur who was being talked about as a potential future champion when knocking out 17 of his first 18 victims as a professional, but he then ran into a talented Agit Kabayel in December 2023. The latter, who is closing in on a world title shot now, put Makhmudov down three times on his way to a fourth-round stoppage win.
Although Makhmudov has registered two early knockouts since, they sandwiched another defeat to Guido Vianello, who kept out of trouble early doors before putting it on his opponent and the Russian’s badly damaged eye left him unable to continue in the eighth round.
Crossroads fight for both men
So, this is a real crossroads fight, and the loser could be looking at the exit door, rather than climbing the mountain again. It’s perfectly poised for an exciting bout, and the bookies can barely split them, with Makhmudov available at 20/21 and Allen a best price of evens.
As those odds suggest, this looks a fight that could go either way and it’s hard to be confident about either man, as they both have their flaws and have shown how they can be beaten.
For Allen, that has happened much more often, and four of his seven defeats have come inside the distance. They were at the hands of Luis Ortiz, Tony Yoka, David Price and the aforementioned Clarke, all of whom were either elite amateurs or world class professionals. Allen has always been easy to hit and his lack of discipline outside the ring often led him to struggling to keep up with the pace inside it.
However, now a father of two, the Yorkshireman looks to have finally dedicated himself to the sport and promises to be in the best shape of his life here. He has had some good wins, most notably over Nick Webb (KO4) and Lucas Brown (KO3), but consistency has always been an issue with him, and it remains to be seen if he can back up his career-best victory over Fisher.
At 6’6” and 260lb, Makhmudov is a huge and intimidating force, one who looks just as suited to being a Bond villain as he does a boxer. His gameplan is simple – seek and destroy. He ploughs forward looking to land heavy shots and he does damage when he hits the target, as a record of 19 stoppages form 20 wins backs up.
However, he is crude and lacks the natural ability of Allen, so the visitor can be outboxed and outlasted, which is Allen’s key to victory here.
If the local man withstands the early onslaught and asks some questions of Makhmudov in return, then the latter could run out of gas and become a lot less threatening after a few rounds. We have seen that against Kabayel and Vianello, so Allen will take confidence from those fights.
What are the best bets?
However, those two successful opponents of Makhmudov were both big men who could move very well and they utilised their quicker feet to outmanoeuvre the Russian early doors before going to work once he had slowed down. The problem for Allen is that he has never been a mover and is unlikely to be able to apply similar elusive tactics.
Also, Allen has come up short when facing the kind of giant heavyweights that litter the glamour division these days, and he has another one in front of him this weekend. Allen’s leaky defence and static feet have left him a sitting duck to bigger men, including Price, who is of similar stature to Makhmudov and he teed off on his man for 10 rounds before Allen retired.
Allen has always taken a shot well, but he doesn’t want to be taking many from Makhmudov, who might not do too much else well, but does hit very hard.
A big crowd is expected in Sheffield to cheer on the popular Allen, and some huge fights await him if he can prevail, but he has fallen short when stepped up in class against the division’s big men in the past and that could be the case here.
It’s 3/1 to go the distance and I don’t see us hearing the final bell. While it’s not hard to imagine an in-shape Allen showing his superior durability and fitness to halt a tiring Makhmudov at 9/5, I prefer the visitor to quieten the crowd with his power and find the target enough to hand Allen another defeat inside the distance at 7/5.
Whichever way it goes, it should be exciting while it lasts and the kind of fight that reminds us why the heavyweight division is so popular.
Preview published at 1125 BST on 10/10/25
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Both of these like to go for the knockout and they carry power, but I expect Marshall to have too much on her return to boxing and the 4/1 about her getting a stoppage looks too big to me.
