Johnny Fisher survives HUGE scare to win controversial split decision against domestic rival Dave Allen on Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk undercard
- Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen went toe-to-toe in Riyadh on Saturday night
- Fisher was a big favorite, but was terribly scared by Allen
- Fisher was knocked down in the fifth round, but got back up and won on points
Johnny Fisher controversially maintained his unbeaten record with a split-decision victory over Dave Allen in Riyadh on Saturday night.
Fisher was a big favorite with the bookies entering the match, and came out with vicious intentions as he consistently caught Allen to the body and head in the early rounds.
But the tide turned in a dramatic fifth round when Allen landed a barrage of punches that left Fisher on the canvas for the first time in his professional career.
Fisher held on for the rest of the round, but was visibly tiring as Allen started to come on strong in the second half of the fight, and when the final bell rang it was anyone’s guess who would make the decision.
But it was Fisher who got his hand lifted by a very narrow margin as two judges scored the fight 95-94 in his favor while the other had it 96-93 for Allen.
Allen was left stunned by the verdict, and he wasn’t alone, as former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson claimed the Doncaster-based fighter had been ‘robbed’.
Johnny Fisher was knocked down in the fifth round for the first time in his career
Fisher rose again to maintain his undefeated record in controversial fashion
“What an incredible performance from Dave Allen with so much at stake and so much pressure,” Tomlinson wrote of X. “Absolutely robbed the judges. You’ve done yourself proud, mate!’
His opinion was echoed by another fan who posted on X: ‘That is an absolutely horrific robbery. Horrible. Johnny Fisher didn’t win that fight. I’m not a fan of Dave Allen, but that’s a shameful decision. Horrible.’
A former opponent of Allen, Dillian Whyte, was also unimpressed by the decision, writing simply: ‘Bulls***’.
Many saw tonight as an opportunity for Fisher to show that he is a major player in the heavyweight division, but he will have to go back to the drawing board after being pushed to his limits.
Fisher moves to 13-0, with Allen becoming only the second man to ‘The Romford Bull’ to go the distance.
Allen has previously shared the ring with the likes of Whyte, as well as Olympic medalists David Price, Frazer Clarke and Tony Yoka.
However, Fisher didn’t seem to care about Allen’s reputation for going up against big punchers as he wanted to end the fight early.
However, after failing to get Allen out in the opening rounds, it quickly became clear that he was in for a much tougher night than expected and that he almost paid the ultimate price.