Chris Oliver believes Dave Allen is value to be awarded a decision which should've gone his way the first time when he faces Johnny Fisher once more.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday May 17
1pt Dave Allen to win by decision 5/1 at (Betway, 9/2 general)
2pts Kieron Conway to win by stoppage at 7/4 (General)
While there is certainly no talk of world titles where Johnny Fisher and DAVE ALLEN are concerned, their rematch at London's Copper Box on Saturday is an intriguing one that had to happen.
The pair engaged in an entertaining 10-rounder in Riyadh last December, when Fisher was a heavy favourite and edged a split decision, but pretty much everyone outside of his camp felt that Allen deserved to get the nod.
Fisher was unbeaten in 12 outings going into it, with 11 knockouts, and started well, as he landed plenty of heavy shots and was the busier man early doors. However, his gas tank quickly emptied, and he was dropped very heavily in the fifth round, from which point onwards it seemed as though Allen was doing enough to win the rounds.
I believe it was an easy fight to score – Fisher won the first four sessions, with Allen taking the next five, and the last round could have gone either way. But, even if you give the last to Fisher, that still makes it five rounds apiece with the 10-8 in the fifth for Allen earning him a 95-94 decision.
The result was booed by the usually reserved crowd in Saudi Arabia and a rematch was needed, but has it come too soon again for Fisher?
The layers obviously don't think so, as Fisher is a 4/9 favourite and Allen can be backed at 5/2, which is a big disparity when you consider the underdog should have got the decision last time.
The bookies’ logic is that Fisher is the younger, fresher man and he can improve the most from the first encounter, which may well be the case. However, I’m not keen on taking such prohibitive odds given he lost first time around, in my opinion.
He may sell plenty of tickets, but Fisher turned professional with very little amateur experience and expectations were pretty low for his career. Those expectations were raised when he stopped both Dmytro Bezus and Alen Babic in the first round last year.
However, his limitations were exposed by Allen, whose experience and sturdy chin enabled him to weather the early storm and come on strong in the second half of the fight, when Fisher had no petrol left in the tank.
Fisher has all the physical advantages, but he couldn’t make the most of them in December and he posed no threat after punching himself out in the opening four sessions. Is five months enough for him to have learned a sufficient amount to a victory in the rematch? I’m not so sure.
ittedly, Fisher can improve for having the of his infamous ‘Romford Army’ cheering him on this time, and he’ll now know he has the heart get through those dark moments in the ring. In of boxing IQ, though, he still has plenty of catching up to do with Allen.
Allen (23-7-2) was the ‘fun’ heavyweight at Matchroom prior to Fisher coming on to the scene, and people bought into journey of the likeable man from Doncaster. Despite often losing, he has boxed at a much higher level than Fisher and good wins over Lucas Browne and the then-unbeaten Nick Webb blow anything Fisher has achieve out of the water.
He does have plenty of miles on the clock but is still only 33 years old and he has had plenty of notice of this rematch, so I expect a fitter and better version of Allen to turn up this weekend.
If Fisher gets behind his jab and makes the most of his physical advantages, then he could well justify the short price and claim a ‘real’ victory. He is 13/8 to win by stoppage, but Allen never looked in any danger in their first contest, and I think he can survive the early onslaught again.
If that is the case, then things could get very interesting from the middle rounds again and Fisher will have to show that his stamina has improved. If it hasn’t, Allen could take over down the stretch again and give his backers a real run for their money.
He’s not always pretty to watch but Allen has bundles of experience in good company and that is invaluable against someone like Fisher, who is still a baby in boxing .
If Allen is to prevail then I see it coming on points and the 5/1 about him landing a decision victory is too big to up. Yes, we can expect a better version of Fisher and that may well be enough for him to win, but the second-half dominance of Allen in December is still fresh in the memory and I find it hard to back the favourite as a result.
CLICK HERE to back Allen by decision with Sky Bet
Another fancied to have too much experience is KIERON CONWAY, who defends his British and Commonwealth middleweight titles against Gerome Warburton.
Conway (22-3-1) has won four on the spin since losing a decision to Austin Williams in Las Vegas and is used to mixing in better company than Warburton (15-1-2), who is a 6/1 chance here.
Last June, Warburton drew with Ryan Kelly, who was subsequently outpointed by Conway and that is one of the reasons why he is a 1/6 favourite for this contest. Prior to that, Conway stopped decent opposition in Linus Udofia (TKO6) and Ainiwaer Yilixiati (TKO7) and I believe he can do the same to Warburton at 7/4.
The underdog is skilful and moves well, but he doesn’t have the power to keep the physical Conway off and the favourite can get the job done before the final bell of his 12-rounder.
Posted at 1230 BST on 09/05/25
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