- Dave Allen weighs 248.8lbs — the lightest he has scaled in seven years and down from 271lbs in his last outing
- Filip Hrgovic hits the scales at the Croatian's usual mark, looking sharp and unbothered 24 hours from the bell
- Eco-Power Stadium in Doncaster sells out for Allen's biggest career night with DAZN going live from 7pm UK
Twenty Years Younger At The Same Weight
Right then. Forty-eight hours ago Dave Allen was sat in a hotel in Doncaster looking like a man trying to convince the room he could pull off the biggest upset in British heavyweight history. This morning he stepped on the scales at 248.8lbs and you can stop arguing the point — the lad is in actual shape.
Let's not beat around the bush. Twenty-two pounds lighter than his last outing in February. The lowest he has weighed since he lost to David Price seven years ago. That is not a man strolling into the Eco-Power for a payday. That is a man who has done the work.
What 248 Says About The Fight
Hrgovic came in bang on, looking exactly as he has all camp — broad, controlled, the eyes that little bit colder than yesterday. Make no mistake, the Croat is the better technical heavyweight. He is the levels above on paper. Forty-eight hours ago I would have called this a clean stoppage inside seven.
The weight changes the story. A heavier Allen gets caught and sat down by the third because he cannot move his feet for twelve. A 248lb Allen has a chance to make it nasty. He still has to take what Hrgovic gives him in the middle rounds, but if he is moving and timing the right hand at the back end of three-minute frames, this becomes proper interesting.
The Eco-Power Goes Up
Allen's home town. A sold-out football stadium. He waited his whole career for this kind of night and he has not turned up half-cooked. The South Yorkshire crowd will lift the roof when his music hits, and Hrgovic is going to find out what that feels like for the first time in his career.
DAZN go live from 7pm UK, and the main event is on around 10.30pm depending on undercard finishes. The undercard is solid enough — local lads, a couple of Queensberry prospects, the usual Frank Warren fight-night decoration — but everyone in that stadium has paid to see the home boy versus the Croatian wrecking machine.
The Pick
I had Hrgovic in five before today. Now I am looking at this and saying Hrgovic by stoppage somewhere between rounds seven and ten, but with Allen having a moment in there. He is going to land something flush around the middle and the place will go up. Whether he can capitalise is the question, and the answer is probably no — but with that weight on the scales it is suddenly a question worth asking.
If you know, you know — Allen at this weight at this stage of his career, on this stage, is a different animal to the Allen the Croat watched on video two months ago. Brilliant theatre incoming on Saturday night.