Tyson Fury may have gotten the win, but not everyone was impressed by what they saw. After Fury’s 12-round victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov, British heavyweight David Allen (25-8-2, 20 KOs) said the former champion no longer belongs among the division’s five best fighters.
“Fury didn’t show anything special. I’d even say it was a very average performance,” said Allen, who lost a decision to Makhmudov in October and in doing so missed out on a path to fighting Fury. “He showed his usual good boxing, and he won, but everything happened like it was in slow motion. He was just too slow in that fight.”
Allen went even further in his assessment, arguing that Fury’s inability to finish Makhmudov was a major red flag for a heavyweight at the elite level.
“At times it looked like he could have stopped him, but just didn’t want to. But then I got the impression that he simply couldn’t,” Allen added. “A heavyweight champion shouldn’t be going all 12 rounds with a boxer like Makhmudov. After what I saw, it seems to me there’s very little left of the old Fury. The pace of the fight was slow, and Fury himself was very slow. I’m sure anyone in the top five knocks out Makhmudov early. Tyson didn’t do that, so he can’t be considered one of the top five heavyweights anymore.”
For Fury, that kind of criticism will only fuel bigger questions about where he stands in the division after his comeback. For Allen, meanwhile, a strong showing in his next outing could strengthen his own case for another high-profile opportunity.
Allen is scheduled to face Filip Hrgovic (19-1, 14 KOs) on May 16 in his hometown of Doncaster, England.