Allen, and many ringside and observing from afar, felt he had done enough when he first fought the then-undefeated Fisher back in December, but two of the judges disagreed and Fisher was awarded a split-decision win. Allen had dropped Fisher midway through that 10-round contest; Allen turned up for the rematch in shape and determined to put the wrong from Saudi Arabia right.

Fisher, who falls to 13-1 (11 KOs) with the defeat, started brightly because of his superior speed and youth, but Allen appeared confident that he would eventually find his chin. As in their first encounter it was in the fifth round when Allen put Fisher down. This time the 33 year old had the energy to finish the job – on the sound of the bell he knocked Fisher down face first into the canvas.

“This win means the world to me,” Allen, 24-7-2 (19 KOs), said afterwards. His former promoter and in 2025 the backer of Fisher, Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn, could not help but give his old fighter his props. “If one man was going to derail Johnny Fisher, I’m glad it was Dave Allen,” he said. “This night belongs to Dave Allen.”

Allen has taken some stick for his performances in recent years – in particular his poor showing against Frazer Clarke, after which he claimed his own grandfather didn’t speak to him for a while afterwards as a consequence. He changed the minds of many with his performance in Riyadh in December, and he has put himself back into the mix for a big opportunity in a thriving domestic heavyweight scene with his fifth-round stoppage of Fisher.

It was Allen who took the center ring and pressed the action behind his high guard. He didn’t throw much, as he so often doesn’t, but when he did throw he landed. The experienced heavyweight whipped over a right hand that seemed to stun the 26-year-old Fisher, forcing the youngster to hold on.

Fisher then started to circle the ring, attempting to box Allen off of the back foot, but he had limited success. Fisher landed a strong right hand before the round came to a close. He looked more settled as the second session began and used his sharper, crisper punches to beat Allen to the punch. Fisher, growing in confidence, started to land with more intent in the third. As Allen slowly stalked him, Fisher fired in his sharp jab into his face, and midway through the round landed a hard uppercut that Allen certainly felt.

As the round went on Fisher started to get more excited with every shot he landed, and he lost control as the referee Marcus Mcdonnell called a break. Fisher continued to land three further shots and was given a final warning by McDonnell for his behaviour. Allen plodded on in the fourth, attempting to close the gap and land his hard overhand right but just couldn’t pin Fisher down. Allen did, however, find a home for some shots as he pinned Fisher to the ropes.

Their contest caught fire early into the fifth round when Allen landed a hard right hand followed by a left that visibly shook Fisher. He  bravely waved on Allen and attempted to fight fire with fire, but doing so proved a mistake. Two more hard rights landed from Allen, and Fisher was sent tumbling to the canvas, much like in their first encounter.

Fisher returned to his feet, but his mind and legs were not working for him. He was allowed to continue but Allen knew that was spent. He pinned Fisher against the ropes and landed two hard blows that bounced off of Fisher’s chin, and as the bell sounded to call, Fisher hit the canvas face first after another devastating right hand.

The towel came flying in from Mark Tibbs and McDonnell waved the contest off at an official time of three minutes of round five. Allen, for all of his past mistakes and wasted chances, finally had yet another night to remember on the big stage and will surely secure himself a shot at another of Britain’s leading heavyweights.