British heavyweight Dave Allen faces the biggest fight of his career on Saturday when he takes on Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield (10pm, DAZN). <\/p>\n
There might be no titles on the line in this 12-round bout, but a win for Allen would open up opportunities with a fight against Deontay Wilder or Kubrat Pulev on the cards. <\/p>\n
Allen, from Doncaster, secured the WBA inter-continental heavyweight title in May with a knockout win over Johnny Fisher, but a win over Makhmudov would be a big statement.<\/p>\n
He seemed to be heading for retirement for a second time, before the win over Fisher, but instead, he earned a two-fight matchroom deal. <\/p>\n
At 6ft 5in, Makhmudov is known as the Lion and will be Allen\u2019s toughest opponent to date. He won his first 18 fights before finally losing for the first time against Agit Kabayel two years ago.<\/p>\n
He was also beaten by Guido Vianello, but did beat Ricardo Brown last time out in June. The scary part, as far as Allen is concerned, is that 19 of his 20 wins have come by knockout.<\/p>\n
Betting sites<\/a> seem split on this one, with Makhmudov the slight favourite at 10\/11 with some bookmakers, while others can\u2019t split the pair.<\/p>\n After coming so close to retiring and being given a huge opportunity, that could be a big enough motivation for the 33-year-old to secure his 25th win.<\/p>\n Allen vs Makhmudov prediction: Allen by KO, TKO or disqualification – 19\/10 Unibet<\/a><\/p>\n Josh Padley vs Reece Bellotti prediction<\/p>\n Another South Yorkshire ace hoping to be buoyed by the Sheffield crowd is Josh Padley as he bids to move a step closer to a shot at a world championship, up against the former British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion Reece Bellotti.<\/p>\n Enjoy 185+ fights a year on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing<\/p>\n Never miss a fight from top promoters. Watch on your devices anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/a><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n Enjoy 185+ fights a year on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing<\/p>\n Never miss a fight from top promoters. Watch on your devices anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/a><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n This will be the Doncaster-born fighter\u2019s 18th fight as a professional, but the biggest of his career so far, up against an opponent who has been there, done it and worn the t-shirt. <\/p>\n Following his Commonwealth success, Bellotti turned pro in 2015 and has won 20 of his 26 fights, with 15 by knockout, but he did lose last time out to Ryan Garner in July.<\/p>\n Boxing betting sites<\/a> are all backing Padley and he may take a more aggressive approach to this bout in front of his fans, leading to a possible early finish to this contest.<\/p>\n Padley v Bellotti prediction: Fight won\u2019t go the distance – 13\/8 Bet365<\/a><\/p>\n Please gamble responsibly <\/p>\n If you\u2019re having a bet on Saturday\u2019s boxing, it\u2019s vital to practice responsible gambling.<\/p>\n Betting can be addictive, and it\u2019s important to stay in control of your gambling, whether you\u2019re using the best betting sites<\/a>, casino sites<\/a>, slot sites<\/a>, bingo sites<\/a> or any other gambling platform. <\/p>\n Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop.<\/p>\n Gambling sites<\/a> offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self-exclusion options, to help you stay in control.<\/p>\n Try not to get carried away by free bets or casino bonuses<\/a>, which are widely available on gambling apps<\/a>. <\/p>\n But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don\u2019t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.<\/p>\n NHS Help GamCare Gamblers Anonymous <\/p>\n We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Allen vs Makhmudov betting tips Allen by KO, TKO or disqualification – 19\/10 UnibetPadley v Bellotti fight won\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-203043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"DAZN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/DAZN.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n