- Ring walks expected around 10.30pm UK with DAZN going live from the Eco-Power at 7pm
- Hrgovic remains -660 favourite, Allen +500 — but the 248.8 weigh-in has tightened the betting line in pockets through the day
- Moses Itauma's August 8 O2 announcement is being held back behind tonight's result — the August opponent is signed, sealed, and waiting on a Hrgovic win
A Stadium That Has Earned This
Right then. Doncaster on a Saturday in May, the Eco-Power filling for a hometown heavyweight, and the talking is finally done. Dave Allen has had every paper in the country writing the romantic version of this story all week and you can understand why — a man who almost walked away in 2019 weighing 248.8lbs and headlining a sold-out football stadium against an Olympic medallist. That's a proper sporting picture before a glove is thrown.
Let's not beat around the bush though. Filip Hrgovic is the levels above on talent and the bookies have been telling you that all week — minus six-sixty for a reason. The job for Allen is to drag this from a technical exhibition into a fight. The job for Hrgovic is to refuse him that.
What I'm Watching In The First Three
Two things. First, Hrgovic's jab posture. If he is doubling and tripling the lead in the opening minute the way he did against Joyce, Allen is in long-night territory and we are talking a body shot stoppage around the back of the third or early in the fourth. The South African camp has clearly worked the body all camp and Allen does not move sideways well enough to keep that off his ribs.
Second, Allen's right hand in the gap. He has timed it on Lerena, he has timed it on Wallin. If he lands it flush in round one, the place goes up and Hrgovic suddenly finds out what it feels like to fight in front of a hostile 30,000. The Croat has fought in front of crowds in Croatia and on Saudi cards — he has not had a Doncaster hometown on his neck for twelve.
The Itauma Cloud
Make no mistake — there is a reason this fight has a slightly nervous undercurrent on the Queensberry side. Moses Itauma's August 8 O2 announcement is being held back. Frank Warren confirmed in midweek that the opponent is signed and sealed and the name lands next week. Hrgovic is in pole position for that fight on every realistic shortlist. Lose tonight and the queue resets.
If you know, you know — a fighter with a tomorrow this big does not allow themselves a slip-up tonight. Hrgovic will fight inside himself for the first three rounds, then turn it on. That has been his pattern for two years.
The Undercard Worth Watching
The Hughes vs Sylvester crossroads is the one I'd point you at on the live stream. There's a couple of Queensberry prospects on early. The chief support gives the local crowd something to roar at while Allen finishes his hands-and-pads in the back room.
The Pick
Hrgovic by stoppage between seven and ten. Allen will have his moment around the fourth — and I think he gets a flush right hand off in there and the stadium loses its head. But the Croat is too big, too educated, and too motivated by the calendar to allow this one to drift into the championship rounds. Stoppage on the body, around eight. Then we hear Itauma's name on Monday.
Brilliant night ahead. Get the pints in, get the volume up. Doncaster has earned this.