The Doncaster De La Hoya risks it all against the beast

After reinvigorating his career, Dave Allen faces a stern test against 6ft 7in Arslanbek Makhmudov

- Steve Bunce

It feels like Dave Allen has had several remarkable boxing careers in the 13 years that he has been a professional heavyweight. He has fought on the tiniest shows, in bad four and six-round fights in the sport’s forgotten lands, and he has also topped the bill at the O2 Arena.

During the last two years, he has met men with records like two wins and 25 defeats, and also been in a significant fight in Riyadh. He has been on boxing's wayward train for about a decade, losing seven of his 33 fights on both sides of the tracks. His career has looked over a few times, and Allen has looked in danger of just vanishing.

On Saturday at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, he is the star of the show when he fights Arslanbek Makhmudov, who not so long ago was considered one of boxing's most lethal fighters. Makhmudov has collected a lot of chilling and fearsome nicknames and has stopped or knocked senseless 19 of the 20 men he has beaten. He has actually won in the first round on 13 occasions and has clearly intimidated men with his size and attitude; he enters the ring like a wrestler, hissing and sneering and then, once the bell has sounded, flattens his victims.