
Mainoo lifts lid on 'difficult' Amorim experience at Man Utd
Kobbie Mainoo opens up about his challenging experience with Amorim at Manchester United.
Dave Allen will fight Filip Hrgovic on May 16, 2026, in Doncaster, England. Despite having home advantage, Allen faces a tough challenge against Hrgovic.
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Dave Allen and Filip Hrgovic face off ahead of their fight on Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Queensberry/Leigh Dawney
Dave Allen takes another tough challenge when he faces Filip Hrgovic on Saturday in Doncaster, England, where the āWhite Rhinoā will have home field but, on paper, little to nothing more by way of advantage.
Letās take a look at the matchup.
Bad Left Hook will have LIVE results, updates, and reactions starting from 2:00 pm ET on Saturday, May 16, 2026.
āNo one thinks Iām gonna beat him, and I know that. All these people here, all my mates and that, I know they want me to win, but they donāt think Iām going to win. ⦠Iām one of lifeās losers that ends up winning. So what have I got to lose? I aināt got nothing to lose. Iām gonna try and punch his fāing head in, and thatās a fact.ā ā Dave Allen
Any time you talk about Dave Allen, it feels like you have to lead up front with the fact that he is, indeed, a popular fighter. He sells tickets. People like him. Heās an everyman star, a humble, blue collar scrapper whose personality is opposite the normal trash talk and bluster we hear from professional boxers of the modern age.
How else to explain Allenās continued presence in main events at age 34, seven years removed from his third round knockout win over Lucas Browne in an O2 Arena main event? It was a magical sort of night, but it was, like, Rudy magical. It was a moment. It was lovely. We all cheered. But it didnāt last. David Price, whose own career had been a disappointment, pretty much manhandled Allen three months later.
Since the loss to Price ā and again, weāre talking about 2019 here ā Allen has been something of an odd presence in the sport. He won a club level fight per year from 2020-23, doing nothing else, and then in September 2023 stepped it back up against Frazer Clarke. Clarke dominated. Allen looked lethargic and overmatched, and retired from the fight after six rounds due to a perforated eardrum.
The fight is scheduled for May 16, 2026.
The fight will take place in Doncaster, England.
Live updates will start at 2:00 pm ET on May 16, 2026.
On paper, Filip Hrgovic is considered the favorite in the matchup.

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He came back in 2024 for two more club-level wins, easy victories against very low-level opposition. Then he was matched with Johnny Fisher, a āDave Allenā sort of fighter in that heās likable, affable, and popular despite pretty obvious flaws that will keep him well short of world level status. He was, frankly, robbed in a split decision loss to Fisher in December 2024 in Riyadh, then stopped Fisher in the fifth round of a rematch five months later in London.
Once again, years after the win over Browne, Allen had a little momentum. He fought Arslanbek Makhmudov, a fringe contender if youāre being somewhat generous, and lost clearly over 12 rounds last October in Sheffield. Most recently, he returned in February for another of his club-level wins, and now he has another notable fight.
The 33-year-old Hrgovic (19-1, 14 KO) was a good amateur for Croatia, winning gold at the 2015 European Championships and bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he lost a tight decision to Tony Yoka in the semifinal round.
As a professional, you could argue Hrgovic has been a little disappointing, but he hasnāt been, like, Audley Harrison or David Price or, well, Yoka-level ādisappointing.ā He was more built for the pro game than Audley or Yoka, who both won gold medals, and heās just better than Price was.
Hrgovic turned pro at 25 and it wasnāt until he was 30 that he took his first serious professional challenge, when he scored a debated win over Zhilei Zhang in 2022, coming off the canvas early to get the win on points over 12 rounds. Heās 4-1 since then, but none of the wins have exactly blown anyoneās doors off, though theyāve all been solid, other than Mark De Mori, who has one of modern boxingās most absurdly empty, gaudy win-loss records. (That win, actually, is somewhat similar to Allenās over Lucas Browne, just nobody made a big deal of it and itās not so inspiring when an Olympic bronze medalist crushes a creaky, aging Aussie.)
The loss to Dubois doesnāt much matter here, in one sense. Dubois is a lot better and more dangerous than Dave Allen. But the way it happened could be relevant.
Allen has fought good fighters many times. It generally has not gone well for him.
What are his best wins? Browne. Fisher. And probably Nick Webb way back in 2018. (Webb, as a side note and excuse to send you over to our Chukhadzhian vs Donovan coverage, will be fighting today in Germany.)
Being totally real and just analyzing the results purely as the results and not enjoyable moments in watching boxing, itās not the resume of a contender. And Allen says all the time, clearly, that he knows heās not really a contender.
Allen is easy to see as an inconsistent performer. But much of that comes down to the levels of his opponents. Itās actually fairly consistent that when he steps up against more talented opposition, he loses.
Hrgovic is perhaps not a great fighter, by which weād mean heās not truly elite level. But heās very good, at the least. More accurately, you might say his style and performances do not inspire. Heās got two decent wins in a row over a faded Joe Joyce, who hung in there for 10 full rounds, and David Adeleye, who was outclassed. Daniel Dubois stopped him, but Daniel Dubois is a pretty punishing guy, too.
Allen reckons that if he can make Hrgovic fight at a faster pace than he wants, he could get the Croatian huffing and puffing by the middle rounds. From there, he says, āIf I hit him, Iāll win. If I donāt, Iāll probably lose on points.ā
I think overall that Allenās analysis of the matchup is pretty spot-on. Daveās best attributes at this level are, indeed, being a little bit tricky, a little bit annoying to fight, and tough to hit clean. He also does have a good chin and is tough, even if he downplays those attributes a bit. But if weāre talking about actually scoring the upset and winning this fight, as much as he may bristle at fans or observers suggesting it ā and I understand his viewpoint and respect it ā he will have to let his hands go. It canāt be all eating up clock and making Hrgovic miss, because he just wonāt win the fight that way. He wonāt win rounds, and he wonāt give himself the shot at the big punch that could change the outcome.
Even if Hrgovic wins and the scores are wide or he stops Allen later on, it wonāt truly be as easy as it seems or looks when you tally up the scores. That will come about because Hrgovic worked smart and made it play out that way.
Allen says heās the best heās ever been. Hrgovic, we can guess, will be exactly as Hrgovic has been for some time now. That makes Hrgovic a big, big ask for even the best Allen weāve ever seen. I honestly donāt think itās impossible for Dave to win this fight. Hrgovic has lulls, he makes some mistakes, and Allen can punch. If he lets his hands go (sorry, Dave) at the right time, yeah, he can shock Hrgovic and most of the world.
I just donāt think itāll happen. Smart moneyās on āEl Animal,ā and Iām sticking with the smart money on this one. But as usual, admittedly, Iām like many and rooting for Dave Allen.