By Elliot Foster
Luis Ortiz stopped David Allen to remain undefeated.
The Cuban heavyweight went a lot longer with the Conisbrough man than many expected, but the curtain was finally called in the seventh.
The fight, which was set for eight rounds, took place on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s second defence of the IBF heavyweight title against Eric Molina at Manchester Arena, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Allen gave the fight his absolute all, going in on the back of a defeat at the hands of Dillian Whyte in July, but was ultimately beaten by the better man, despite rocking the WBA number one in some parts and having moments of success.
Referee Darren Sarginson called a halt to proceedings with just a second to go in the penultimate stanza, leaving Ortiz to advance to 27-0 with 23 early, while Allen –– who deserves tremendous credit for his toughness and bravery throughout –– slips to 9-2-1 (6 KOs) in defeat.
Earlier in the card, Conor Benn made a blistering return to the ring and ended the year on a massive high.
The second generation, who is the son of former two-weight world champion Nigel, only turned professional in April, on the same bill as the one Anthony Joshua knocked out Charles Martin on, at the O2 Arena to win the IBF world heavyweight title, and has remained undefeated.
Benn, who only recently turned 20, blew out Steven Backhouse in just 66 seconds to begin 2017 with an unblemished ledger of six wins from six with four early.
And in the kick-off contest, the first fight of the night, Marcus Morrison extended his undefeated ledger with a points win.
The Hattersley man, who boxed on the undercard of Carl Frampton’s victory over Scott Quigg at the same venue back in February in front of no fans because the doors were shut, advanced to 14-0 with 10 early after being declared the victor against the durable Harry Matthews.
The referee scored the fight 60 points to 55.
