{"id":190254,"date":"2025-10-10T10:48:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190254\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T10:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:48:12","slug":"mind-games-gone-wrong-dave-allen-vs-makhmudov-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190254\/","title":{"rendered":"Mind Games Gone Wrong? Dave Allen Vs Makhmudov Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dave Allen says he wants to wear down Arslanbek Makhmudov by playing mind games ahead of their 12-round fight this Saturday, October 11, at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. Their fight will be shown live on DAZN<\/a> this Saturday. The event starts at 2:00 p.m. ET \/ 11:00 p.m. PT.<\/p>\n

Smile Warfare Begins<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s strategy is to purposefully annoy the big 6\u20195 1\/2\u2033 Russian Makhmudov (20-2, 19 KOs) by smiling. He acknowledges that it doesn\u2019t seem to be working. Instead of Makhmudov appearing angry, he seems happy with how friendly Allen is, as shown by his smiles.<\/p>\n

The other strategy that Allen (24-7-2, 19 KOs) has is to duck and dodge Makhmudov\u2019s firepower in the first quarter of the fight, and then start coming on in rounds four and five. Makhmudov might still be too powerful at that point in the fight for Allen to go on the attack.<\/p>\n

In Arslanbek\u2019s recent eighth-round knockout defeat against Guido Vianello on August 17, 2024, he was still throwing with a lot of power in rounds five through seven. Makhmudov had a swollen, injured left eye, and he could barely see out of it. Even with that, he was throwing huge haymakers with knockout intention. If not for Guido\u2019s technical ability, he would have been clipped.<\/p>\n

Allen is going to have to be careful not to get hit because the shots that Makhmudov throws have a lot of power and weight behind them. The uppercuts and the clubbing right hands that he throws will do damage when or if they land on Allen. He hasn\u2019t fought a heavyweight of Makhmudov\u2019s level in many years since his fight against Tony Yoka in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to annoy him. I\u2019m not sure how well it\u2019s working. I wanted him to try to punch my head in. I was trying to irritate him. The sooner he tires out, the better,\u201d said Dave Allen to talkSport Boxing<\/a> about wanting to wear down Arslanbek Makhmudov outside and inside the ring.<\/p>\n

Makhmudov Doesn\u2019t Blink<\/p>\n

Allen doesn\u2019t seem to understand Makhmudov well. He looks entirely indifferent to the mind games that Allen is trying to play. Makhmudov has too much experience at the pro level and in the amateurs in Russia. Trying to annoy him isn\u2019t likely to work. Again, Allen\u2019s smiling makes him come across as friendly. Makhmudov even said in an interview that he thinks Allen is a \u201cnice\u201d person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait for rounds four and five to start. The more I can get him to knock the smile off my face, the quicker I can get it to work. When he\u2019s throwing punches, I\u2019ll be ducking and diving. I\u2019ll get to work when he starts blowing.<\/p>\n

Since 2015, Olly Campbell has brought readers clear ringside perspective and a steady voice on boxing\u2019s biggest nights.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

Olly Campbell has been covering boxing since 2010 and has written for Boxing News 24 since 2014. Based in the UK, he now reports on the worldwide boxing scene, delivering fight news, results, and features that connect fans to the sport\u2019s biggest stories.<\/p>\n

With a background in UK and European coverage, Olly has developed a style that blends sharp analysis with accessible writing, making his work valuable to both dedicated followers and casual fans. His reporting consistently highlights champions, contenders, and emerging prospects on the global stage.<\/p>\n

Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb Mind Games Gone Wrong? Dave Allen\u2019s Plan to Irritate Makhmudov Might Be Backfiring Before the First Bell<\/p>\n

Last Updated on 10\/10\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Allen says he wants to wear down Arslanbek Makhmudov by playing mind games ahead of their 12-round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,18059,6573,20438,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-190254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-mark-robinson","10":"tag-matchroom-boxing","11":"tag-press-conference","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}