Right then. Six days out and the Eco-Power Stadium build-out has started. Trucks were on the pitch yesterday afternoon, the seating bowl is going up around the ring, and Doncaster is about to host its biggest boxing night since the rugby league era. The town centre is festooned. Allen banners are up everywhere. The Wetherspoons on the high street had a chalkboard that read "Six sleeps to go." That's a Doncaster fight week.
The fight is the first big card on UK soil since Wardley-Dubois last night, and on paper it's a step down from a heavyweight world title fight. In practice it's the more interesting eliminator — because the winner of Hrgovic v Allen walks straight into a fight with one of Itauma, Kabayel, the loser of Usyk-Verhoeven (don't), or — and this is where it gets spicy — Wardley on the rebuild.
The Croatian Comes In Hot
Hrgovic is 19-1 with 14 knockouts. He had a rough 2024 — the Dubois stoppage was the only loss of his career — but 2025 was a rebuild year done properly. He decisioned Joe Joyce over twelve in February, then took out David Adeleye on points in October. Both wide. Both deserved.
The version of Hrgovic we'll see on Saturday should be the sharpest. He's been in camp at the Mladost gym in Zagreb since February, sparred with Zhilei Zhang for ten days in March (yes, really — Zhang flew in), and looks fitter than he has at any point since the Dubois fight. The right hand is still his money shot, the jab is decent, and the 6'6" frame at 245lbs makes him a problem in the trenches.
Allen Is Not There Just To Take Money
Make no mistake — Dave Allen at 25-8-2 is not the Allen who got stopped in the third round at the O2 by Lucas Browne in 2019. He's done the work. He's lighter than he was for the Makhmudov loss in October. The first-round stoppage of Karim Berredjem in February was a sharper Allen than I've seen in five years. He's 34, comes in fit, fights at home, and has a crowd that will lift him through bad rounds.
The key for Allen is the same it always is — get past round four. Hrgovic is a slow starter, and the cleanest punch on his record has been thrown by him in the fifth or sixth. Allen's path is to box behind the jab, accept the body work, and try to land the one big counter right in the second half of the fight.
The Numbers The Bookies Have Got Right
Hrgovic opened at 1/4. He's at 2/7 now. Allen has come in from 11/4 to 3/1. The ten days since the press conference have moved the price about 25 percent — that's the public backing the underdog because of the home crowd, not because of anything in camp. The line will probably move further by Wednesday but it shouldn't go below 2/9. Hrgovic is the right favourite.
Why I'm Picking The Croatian
I'm calling Hrgovic by stoppage in round seven or eight. Here's the path. Rounds one through three are a feeling-out, both men respecting the other's power. Rounds four through six are Hrgovic sitting on the body, breaking Allen's posture, doubling the jab. Round seven Allen's hands drop on the inside, Hrgovic finds the right hand to the temple, and the referee waves it off in round eight. It's not a brutal stoppage — Allen's been in worse — but it's a clean Hrgovic win.
The under 6.5 rounds is the wrong bet. Allen will eat through the first half. The over 7.5 is where I'd land if I were having a punt. Hrgovic ends it in either round seven or round eight. That's the call.
What's On The Card Around It
The undercard is light on names but heavy on prospects. Jeamie Tshikeva is back at heavyweight, Ryan Kelly is on his feet, and Mariah Turner headlines the women's bouts. Doors at 4pm, main card from 6pm UK, ring walks for the headliner around 10pm. Standard DAZN structure.
Luke's Read
Allen is great for British boxing. He sells the building, he speaks well, and he's the kind of journeyman-turned-folk-hero that the sport doesn't grow as often as it should. But Hrgovic is at his peak, in his right weight, and is desperate to get back into the world title picture before the heavyweight log-jam at the top costs him another year. He's coming to win this in style. Allen will land. Allen will hurt him. Allen will not beat him. Hrgovic by stoppage round seven, Doncaster goes home with a story but not a result. Six days to go.