Heavyweight Johnny Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) earned a highly controversial 10-round split decision win over seasoned heavyweight Dave Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs) last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Allen Robbed
Many boxing fans complained about the results of the fight, believing that the 25-year-old Fisher, promoted by Eddie Hearn, should NOT have won the fight. Fisher was dropped badly by a left hook from Allen in the fifth round and was further injured in rounds six, seven, eight, nine and ten. Allen seemed to do more than enough to deserve a decision, but not with this crew or the judges.
Fisher landed a lot of punches in the last five rounds, but Allen repeatedly rocked him when he landed hard and was forced into the clinch. The shots Fischer landed had no effect on Allen, who went through them and pinned him with shots that stunned him.
Fisher’s illegal tactics
Fisher used an illegal straight hand throughout the fight, especially in the last half, to keep Allen. The referee did nothing about the move. That was interesting to note. Without that little tactic, it’s hard to imagine Fisher surviving.
If the contest had been held in the US, the referee would have warned and penalized Fisher for the straight arm, as that was his main tactic, in addition to excessive cinching, to prevent Allen from finishing him.
The scores were 95-94, 95-94 for Fischer and 96-93 for Allen.
Johnny Fisher vs. Dave Allen Punch Stats
– Fisher: 125 of 395 shots for 31.6%
– Allen: 135 of 303 for 44.6%
Hearn’s Spin
“I think the best I could have hoped for when I got in the ring was a draw.” This is how I see it. Johnny Fisher 100% won the first four rounds and the 12th (correction: this was a 10 round fight NOT 12 rounds. Hearn got it wrong),” said Eddie Hearn iFL TVarguing why his fighter, Johnny Fisher, deserved to beat the callous Dave Allen last Saturday night.
“He (Fisher) definitely won in five rounds.” Now, if you give Allen every other round and a knockdown (in the 5th round), he wins the fight by one point. Now, if you give Johnny Fisher sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth, Johnny Fisher wins the fight. I’m not sure it is. I have to keep an eye on it,” Hearn continued.
“My real reaction was, ‘We could lose this fight by a point, or it’s a draw.’ I think Johnny Fisher was very happy to win the fight. What I will tell you is that he showed so much (courage) and so much bottle. We know he has it in him. “Tonight we (three-year pro Fisher, 25) suffered from a lack of experience, a lack of rounds (41 as a pro, the result of too many mismatches), and I thought Dave Allen was fantastic,” Hearn said.
Hometown advantage?
If there is a Fisher-Allen rematch, it would be good to have it on neutral territory. Hearn says he wants the rematch to take place in London, which it did Fisher’s hometown. It’s not a good deal for Allen, who is from Yorkshire. That means the crowd would favor Fisher on the A side, and we could see another controversial decision given to him based on hometown advantage alone.
“I want to make a rematch. It’s a fight in London, big crowd and Dave Allen gets another chance. Johnny Fisher is now in the hospital. He’s been scanned, he’s fine. He had to drain his (left) ear, but he’s fine. That is the most important thing. It was a very, very close fight. I thought Johnny Fisher was lucky to win, but I could argue for a split,” Hearn said.
The moment Dave Allen dropped Johnny Fisher 🤯#Usik2Furi | #RiadhSeason | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/J8z4J2rVeZ
— DAZN boxing (@DAZNBoking) December 22, 2024
