Eighty-Two Seconds
Right then. I have been watching heavyweights for a long time and I have never seen a fight end like that. Dave Allen against Thomas Carty, the co-main event under Katie Taylor at Croke Park, was the heavyweight fight the Dublin crowd had been waiting all week for. It lasted one minute and 22 seconds. The two men tied up, Allen threw a right hand that landed around the side and back of Carty's head, and Carty lurched forward, went through the ropes, and landed head-first outside the ring. The doctors had a look, and that was that. No contest.
Make no mistake, this was nobody's fault. Allen was not trying to foul anyone — it was a clinch, a punch in close, and the sort of thing that happens twenty times in every heavyweight fight without incident. Carty was not looking for a way out either; the man had 83,000 of his own people behind him and had spent the week talking about the Carty Party. He just fell badly, and when a heavyweight lands on his head on the apron, the doctor has one decision to make and he made it.
What It Means For Both Men
The records stay where they were. Carty remains 11-1 with nine knockouts; Allen stays 27-9-2 with 20 stoppages. Nothing was learned. The one bit of real information we got was in the opening minute: Allen came forward, Carty was trying to establish the long southpaw jab, and it was already looking like the fight I expected — Allen pressing, Carty trying to keep it at range. Then the clinch, and the ropes.
The Towel Stayed On The Hook
I said before the fight that Allen needed to keep the towel on the hook because the Irish would not do him any favours. Fair play to him, he came to fight. But the frustrating thing for Allen is that this was his chance to prove, in front of a hostile crowd, that the man who shared a ring with the current world champion Filip Hrgovic can still mix it at this level. He never got to find out.
Run It Back — Now
Let's not beat around the bush. Eddie Hearn has one job this week and it is to put this fight straight back on. Not next year, not on a Riyadh undercard — at the 3Arena or in Belfast before Christmas, on a proper card with the same two men. Carty needs a real result against a durable name to move on. Allen needs a fight that actually happens to stay relevant in the British and Irish heavyweight picture.
Luke's Verdict
My pick has not changed. Over the full distance I still think Carty's length and his southpaw jab win him the rounds, and Allen's chin means it goes to the cards. Carty on points in the rematch. But the point is that 83,000 people paid to see a heavyweight fight on the biggest night in Irish boxing history and got 82 seconds. They deserve the real thing. Read the full Taylor report on our farewell page.