Dave Allen

David Allen is a British professional boxer. At regional level, he has challenged twice for the Commonwealth heavyweight title in 2017 and 2018. He holds a notable win over former world heavyweight champion Lucas Browne.

Professional career Early career Allen started his professional career with a six-round points win over Rolandas Cesna in 2012.

Consecutive defeats Allen vs. Whyte After being undefeated in his first 10 professional fights, he fought Dillian Whyte in July 2016 at short notice for the vacant WBC International heavyweight title, losing by unanimous points decision over ten rounds.

Allen vs. Ortiz In December 2016, he fought undefeated Luis Ortiz (26–0) on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina, losing by seventh-round stoppage.

First Commonwealth title challenge Allen vs. Thomas He fought Lenroy Thomas in May 2017 for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title, losing a split decision over 12 rounds.

Second Commonwealth title challenge Allen vs. Thomas II Their rematch in March 2018 was declared a technical draw after Allen suffered a bad cut over the right eye in the first round.

Return to the ring Allen vs. Yoka Two fights later, Allen travelled to Paris to face undefeated Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka (4–0), but was unsuccessful in a 10th-round technical knockout loss.

Allen vs. Browne The biggest win of Allen's career came in a third-round knockout of former WBA (Regular) champion Lucas Browne in April 2019.

Allen vs. Price Allen next fought David Price in July 2019, retiring in the tenth-round to suffer his fifth career loss.

He rebounded from the loss with a third-round knockout victory over Dorian Darch on 8 February 2020 in Sheffield.

Retirement In November 2020, Allen announced his retirement from boxing, stating, "I don’t want to get punched anymore." The announcement was reported in an interview with World Boxing News. "Long gone are the days of the kid from Donny who wants to fight. All I want now is a nice quiet life with a wife and some kids. Healthy and happy getting nice and fat." However, in April 2021, he revealed via social media that he plans to return to boxing, saying, ""I had a meeting today and what I wanted was, I wanted to come back and box, but I want to come back at a low level. I want to enjoy my boxing, I want to win titles, whatever titles they may be. I will be boxing again but I won't be coming back and boxing Alen Babic and Fabio Wardley for at least 12 months. I just want to come back and enjoy boxing."

Comeback On 27 August 2021, Allen returned from retirement to fight Andrea Pesce at the Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield. Allen won by technical knockout in the second round.

Allen vs. Fisher Allen fought Johnny Fisher (12–0, 11 KOs) on 21 December 2024, at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of the undercard for the heavyweight world title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. Allen knocked Fisher down in the 5th round but ultimately lost the fight in a controversial split decision as two of the ringside judges scored the fight 95–94 for Fisher while the third had it 96–93 in Allen's favour.

Allen vs. Fisher II Allen faced Johnny Fisher in a rematch at the Copper Box Arena in London, England, on 17 May 2025. He won by stoppage in the fifth round to inflict the first defeat of his opponent's professional career.

Allen vs. Makhmudov Allen fought Arslanbek Makhmudov (20–2, 19 KOs) at Sheffield Arena on 11 October 2025. Allen lost by unanimous decision with the judges scoring the bout 115–111, 117–109 and 116–110 all in favour of Makhmudov.

On 21 February 2026, Allen fought Karim Berredjem (12–10, 3 KOs) at the Nottingham Arena, on the undercard of Leigh Wood vs. Josh Warrington II. Allen knocked out Berredjem in just 57 seconds.

Allen vs. Hrgović Allen faced Filip Hrgović in the headline fight on the bill at the Keepmoat Stadium in his hometown of Doncaster on 16 May 2026. He lost by technical knockout when his corner threw in the towel in the third round.

Allen got back to winning ways in his next fight with a points win over Ross McGuigan in a four-round bout at the Magna Centre in Rotherham on 20 June 2026.

Allen is scheduled to face Thomas Carty at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, on 5 September 2026.

Professional boxing record