Heavyweight Johnny Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) was handed a highly contested 10-round split decision victory over experienced heavy-handed Dave Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs) last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. , Saudi Arabia.
Allen robbed
Many boxing fans complained about the results of the fight and felt that the Eddie Hearn-promoted Fisher, 25, should NOT have won the fight. Fisher was dropped hard by a left hook from Allen in the fifth round and was further injured in rounds six, seven, eight, nine and ten. Allen seemed to have done more than enough to earn the decision, but not with this team or judges.
Fisher landed plenty of punches in the final five rounds, but was repeatedly rocked by Allen as he was hit hard and forced to clinch. The shots Fisher landed had no effect on Allen, who walked through them and nailed him with shots that stunned him.
Fisher’s illegal tactics
Fisher uses a illegal straight arm throughout the fight, especially in the last half, to hold Allen back. The referee did nothing to the move. It was interesting to note. Without that bit of tactics, it’s hard to see Fisher surviving.
Had the contest been held in the US, a referee would have warned and penalized Fisher for the straight arm, as it was his main tactic, aside from excessive cinching, to stop Allen from finishing him.
The scores were 95-94, 95-94 for Fisher and 96-93 for Allen.
Johnny Fisher vs. Dave Allen Punch Statistics
– Fisher: 125 of 395 shots for 31.6%
– Allen: 135 of 303 for 44.6%
Hearn’s Spin
“I think the best I could have hoped for when I got in the ring was a draw. This is how I see it. Johnny Fisher won the first four rounds and the 12th 100% (correction: It was a 10-round fight, NOT a 12-round one. Hearn had it wrong),” said Eddie Hearn. iFL TVwith the reason his fighter, Johnny Fisher, earned a victory over journeyman Dave Allen last Saturday night.
“He (Fisher) definitely won five rounds. Now, if you give Allen every other round and the takedown (in round 5), he wins the fight by one point. Now, if you give Johnny Fisher the sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth, Johnny Fisher wins the fight. I’m not sure he did. I have to look it back,” Hearn continued.
“My real reaction was, ‘We can lose this fight by a point, or it’s a draw. I think Johnny Fisher was very lucky to win the fight. What I will tell you is he showed so much (courage) and so much guts. We know he has it in him. Tonight we (three-year professional Fisher, 25) suffered from a lack of experience, a lack of rounds (41 as a pro, due to too many mismatches), and I thought Dave Allen was fantastic,” said Hearn said.
Hometown Advantage?
If there is a Fisher-Allen rematch, it would be a good idea to stage it in neutral territory. Hearn says he wants the rematch to take place in London, which it is Fisher’s hometown. It’s not a good deal for Allen, who is from Yorkshire. That means the crowd will be in A-side Fisher’s favor, and we could see another controversial decision given to him just based on hometown advantage.
“I want to make the rematch. It’s the fight to make in London, big crowd and Dave Allen gets another opportunity. Johnny Fisher is now in the hospital. He’s been scanned, he’s fine. He had to have his (left) ear drained, but he’s okay. That’s the most important thing. It was a very, very close battle. I thought Johnny Fisher was lucky to get the win, but I could argue for a split,” Hearn said.
The moment Dave Allen dropped Johnny Fisher 🤯#Usyk2Fury | #Riyadh Season | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/J8z4J2rVeZ
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 22, 2024
 was given a highly controversial 10-round split decision win over the experienced, heavy-handed Dave Allen (23-7-2,){kind=link}