How can Dave Allen Beat Filip Hrgovic?

When the fight between Dave Allen and Filip Hrgovic was announced, we were immediately worried. Everyone and their mother loves Allen, but there is an overwhelming sense that he has bitten off far more than he can chew with this one.

No-one wants to see Allen get hurt, but there is a good chance that he will against ‘El Animal’. An accurate puncher with solid output and fantastic fundamentals, Hrgovic is a nightmare opponent for ‘the White Rhino’ at face value.

Is Allen likely to win this one? No. In that same breath, it is impossible for him to secure victory? Well, the answer to that question is also no.

After all, this is Heavyweight boxing. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the biggest upset in boxing history – and perhaps in sports as a whole – took place in boxing’s marquee division.

Today, we’ll take a look at how Allen can take advantage of Hrgovic’s weaknesses and pick up a massive win in front of his hometown crowd. He is a massive underdog in this one, but stranger things have happened in the world of boxing.

What Allen must avoid against Hrgovic

The first few rounds are likely to be very tough for Allen. Hrgovic won’t want to hang around – he is looking to work his way back into world title contention.

Labouring to a decision victory against Allen will not be on his agenda. He will want to make a statement by knocking him out early, which Allen will need to be aware of.

We all know how durable Allen is, but he will not survive a prolonged assault from ‘El Animal’ if he isn’t prepared to fight fire with fire. He might not leave his feet, but Hrgovic can definitely land with enough volume to force a stoppage.

Allen is a slow starter – at least, he is when up against opposition that he seriously respects. He certainly won’t go on the assaut from the opening bell – instead, he’ll gauge Hrgovic’s power whilst remaining defensively responsible.

He’ll have to allow the big Croat to tire himself out first. Hrgovic often slows down noticeably in the latter half of his fights, which is when Allen should look to press the issue.

Allen will also need to tune out the noise from the crowd if possible. His fellow Doncastrians will turn the Eco-Power Stadium into a real cauldron – for some, this is beneficial, but not for Allen. Generally, he underperforms as the home fighter, shying away from the pressure of fighting in front of his own fans.

Take the first Lenroy Thomas fight for example. Allen will probably tell you this himself – he was absolutely dreadful in that encounter. Taking place at Bramall Lane, in front of his South Yorkshire brethren, he slogged and plodded his way to a split-decision loss against a thoroughly underwhelming opponent.

Allen’s key strengths vs Hrgovic

We don’t think Allen can win this one by simply landing ‘one big punch’. This will not work against Hrgovic – not only is his chin far too solid, his defensive fundamentals will keep him safe from any hopeful haymakers.

We saw Hrgovic take some tremendous punishment from Zhilei Zhang and David Adeleye – Hrgovic perserved and emerged victorious in both of those contests, even if the decision over Zhang was disputed by some.

That doesn’t mean that Allen’s overhand right can’t be an effective weapon in this one. Hrgovic likes to throw slow, probing jabs, especially against fighters of a lower punching output.

Should he become too comfortable in doing this, it will allow Allen to fire off a right hand over the top and land cleanly – it probably won’t be enough to trouble Hrgovic too much, but it’ll make him think and force him to readjust. Additionally, it’ll look great in the eyes of the judges.

Furthermore, Allen also possesses underrated timing. The best example of this was his fight against Lucas Browne, where he sized up the Australian with pinpoint precision to land a thunderous left hook to the body.

Instead of targeting the head, Allen should instead look to attack Hrgovic’s body primarily. We already mentioned that Hrgovic has stamina issues – this will only serve to highlight them further. Additionally, by targeting the right side of Hrgovic’s body, he will become less inclined to throw his best punch (the right cross).

If Allen can take Hrgovic’s best punches and remain on the offensive, it might just break the heart of ‘El Animal’. This is what happened when Hrgovic faced Daniel Dubois – despite meting some outrageous punishment, Dubois remained steadfast and kept pushing forwards.

Eventually, Hrgovic tired and Dubois managed to stop him on cuts. Of course, Dubois is a different beast when compared to Allen, but the blueprint is there. Hrgovic lacks the lionheart of a truly elite fighter – he’s very durable from a physical standpoint, but can wilt in difficult contests.

Will Allen be in shape?

Of course, this will only work if Allen is appropriately conditioned. Sadly, we have heard it all before with ‘the White Rhino’ – he claims to be in the shape of his life, only to turn up on fight day looking pudgy and uninterested. If this happens on Saturday night, he will not make it through five rounds.

Thankfully, Allen looks like a changed man under Jamie Moore. Moore has done a fantastic job of making sure he remains accountable and focused – his performances against Johnny Fisher were a testament to this.

Allen admitted he got his preparations all wrong against Arslanbek Makhmudov, leading to a lethargic performance. This wasn’t down to a lack of preparation – Allen said himself that he overtrained, ultimately leaving too much in the gym.

He has seemed grounded and unnerved in the build up to his fight with Hrgovic – let’s hope that his training has gone to plan this time.