Heavyweight Johnny Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) earned a highly controversial 10-round split decision victory over the experienced, heavyweight 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, believing that Fisher (25), who was promoted by Eddie Hearn, should NOT have won the fight. Allen's left hook in the fifth round dropped Fisher badly and he was further injured in the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth rounds. Allen seems to have done more than enough to deserve a decision, but not with this crew or the judges.
Fisher landed plenty of punches in the last five rounds, but Allen rocked him repeatedly when he landed a powerful punch and was forced into the clinch. The shots Fisher fired had no effect on Allen, who went through them and nailed him with shots that stunned him.
Fisher's illegal tactics
Fisher used illegal straight hand throughout the fight, especially in the last half, to keep Allen. The judge did nothing about that move. That was interesting to note. Without that little tactic, it's hard to imagine Fisher surviving.
If the contest had been held in the US, the referee would have cautioned and penalized Fisher for the straight arm as it was his main tactic, aside from excessive taunting, to prevent Allen from finishing him off.
The scores were 95-94, 95-94 for Fisher and 96-93 for Allen.
Johnny Fisher vs. Dave Allen, hitting stats
– 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 was 100% winning the first four rounds and the 12th (correction: this was a 10-round fight, NOT a 12-round fight. Hearn was wrong), Eddie Hearn told iFL TVarguing why his fighter, Johnny Fisher deserved to win over assistant Dave Allen last Saturday night.
“He (Fisher) definitely won in five rounds. Now, if you give Allen every other round and a knockdown (in the 5th round), he wins the fight by one point. Now, if you give Johnny Fisher the sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth, Johnny Fisher will win the fight. I'm not sure it is. I have to look into it, Hearn continued.
“My real reaction was, 'We could lose this fight by a point or it's a draw. I think Johnny Fisher was very lucky to get the fight. What I will tell you is that he showed so much (courage) and so many bottles. We know he has it in him. Tonight we (three-year pro Fisher, 25) suffered from a lack of experience, a lack of rounds (41 as a pro, which is the result of too many mismatches), and I thought Dave Allen was fantastic,” Hearn said.
Hometown advantage?
If there is a Fisher-Allen rematch, it would be best if it took place on neutral territory. Hearn says he wants the rematch to take place in London, which it did Fisher's hometown. It's not a good deal for Allen, who is from Yorkshire. That means the crowd would favor Fisher on the A-side, and we could see another controversial decision awarded to him based on hometown advantage alone.
“I want to play a rematch. London fight coming up, big crowd and Dave Allen gets another chance. Johnny Fisher is now in the hospital. It's been scanned, it's fine. They had to drain his (left) ear, but he is fine. That is the most important thing. It was a very, very close fight. 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 | #RiyadhSeason | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/J8z4J2rVeZ
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 22, 2024
