Dave Allen fights Filip Hrgovic in another heavyweight showdown on British soil tonight.
The bout comes just a week after an epic, brutal contest in boxing’s glamour division as Daniel Dubois recovered from two knockdowns to dominate Fabio Wardley, becoming the new WBO world champion in the process.
Now the action pivots from Manchester to Doncaster, where local favourite Allen - AKA ‘The White Rhino’ or ‘Doncaster De La Hoya’ - is bidding to pull off a major upset and undoubtedly the biggest win of his eventful career to date.
The 34-year-old comes into his most high-profile bout to date with some momentum, having emphatically stopped the previously unbeaten Johnny Fisher in the fifth round of their rematch to avenge a controversial split-decision loss and then gone the distance with Arslanbek Makhmudov - who recently went 12 rounds with the returning Tyson Fury - before demolishing Karim Berredjem inside a round in Nottingham in February.
Allen - who has put his name in the ring to face Fury in a tune-up clash before the latter’s super fight against Anthony Joshua later this year - will have his work cut out against Hrgovic, the Croatian Olympic bronze medallist known as ‘El Animal’ who is looking to notch up a third successive win since suffering his first professional loss to Dubois on the inaugural Queensberry vs Matchroom 5v5 card in the summer of 2024.
Hrgovic bounced back by outpointing Joe Joyce before then defying a nasty early cut to defeat David Adeleye in Riyadh last August on the Dillian Whyte-Moses Itauma undercard, retaining his WBO International belt and also adding the WBA Continental gold.
He will now be looking to make it a hat-trick of consecutive victories over British heavyweights as an overwhelming favourite against Allen, potentially setting up a daunting showdown with ascending heavyweight superstar Itauma on August 8 at the O2 Arena.
Allen vs Hrgovic fight date and venue
Dave Allen vs Filip Hrgovic - which has been dubbed ‘Dave vs Goliath’ - takes place on Saturday May 16, 2026 at the 15,231-capacity Eco-Power Stadium - home of Doncaster Rovers.
Allen vs Hrgovic fight time and ring walks
Allen and Hrgovic are expected to make their respective ring walks starting at approximately 9:30pm BST. The main televised undercard gets underway at around 7pm BST. As ever, those exact timings are subject to change.
How to watch Allen vs Hrgovic
TV channel and live stream: In the UK and the rest of the world, Allen vs Hrgovic is being broadcast live via DAZN. The event is part of usual monthly or yearly DAZN subscriptions and not being shown on their pay-per-view service.
Allen vs Hrgovic undercard
Dave Allen vs Filip Hrgovic
Louie O'Doherty vs Ahmed Hatim
Michael Gomez Jr vs Lee McGregor
Maxi Hughes vs Lewis Sylvester
Joe Hayden vs Ryan Frost
Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev vs Alexis Nahuel Torres
Ted Jackson vs Mike Byles
Carl Fail vs Luis Morales
Leighton Birchall vs Leonardo Baez
John Tom Varey vs Stephen Jackson
Kian Hamilton vs Les Urry
Allen vs Hrgovic prediction
Hrgovic to win by unanimous decision.
Allen vs Hrgovic weigh-in results
Allen tipped the scales on Friday at 248.8 pounds - his lightest weight for more than seven years and over 20 pounds lighter than for his win over Berredjem, having made a £50,000 bet that he would come in at under 18 stone. Hrgovic, meanwhile, was fractionally lighter at 248.4 pounds.
