Tony Bellew makes prediction on heavyweight clash that features a fighter who wrestles with bears

Dave Allen faces one of the toughest tests of his career on October 11 when he headlines in Sheffield against Arslanbek Makhmudov. 

Once considered one of the most dangerous threats at heavyweight in recent years, Makhmudov’s momentum slowed drastically when he was stopped by Agit Kabayel at the end of 2023 . 

Aiming to rebuild the following year, Makhmudov once again faced a crisis as he was beaten in Canada by Guido Vianello. The heavy-handed fighter has since responded with a first-round win against Ricardo Brown, but he will need to be at his best to get past a rejuvenated Allen next month.

Last year, Allen was intended to be a stepping stone for Johnny Fisher, but the Doncaster fighter had other plans as he dropped Fisher before controversially losing on the scorecards. 

In an immediate rematch, Allen took the decision out of the judges' hands as he scored a brilliant stoppage against the Essex fighter and landed himself a big fight against Makhmudov . 

Tony Bellew, who briefly operated at heavyweight when taking on David Haye in two fights, has delivered his verdict on the fight. 

“Makhmudov is dangerous. We’ve seen he can be outfought and outwitted and hurt himself by Agit Kabayel. But he’s a big, dangerous lump. This is going to go one of two ways,” said Bellew when speaking to Fightlens . 

“Either he comes in and gives Dave some licks and knocks him out pretty quick, or, my version of events, what I think will happen is Dave Allen will get rid of this fella in about seven or eight rounds but he’ll take a few, and he’ll have to absorb some, and then I think Dave might outman him down the stretch and stop him late.” 

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