Dave Allen says he wants to wear out Arslanbek Makhmudov with mind games ahead of their 12-round fight this Saturday, October 11 at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. Their fight will be shown live on DAZN this Saturday. The event starts at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 PM PT.

The smile war begins

Allen’s strategy is to deliberately irritate the huge 6-foot-1/2-inch Russian Makhmudov (20-2, 19 KOs) by smiling. He admits it doesn’t seem to work. Instead of seeming enraged, Makhmudov seems elated with how genial Allen is, as seen in his smiles.

Another strategy for Allen (24-7-2, 19 KO) is to avoid Makhmudov’s firepower in the first quarter of the fight, then launch an attack in rounds four and five. Makhmudov may still be too powerful at this point in the fight for Allen to go on the attack.

In Arslanbek’s recent eighth-round knockout loss to Guido Vianello on August 17, 2024, he continued to throw with great power in rounds five through seven. Makhmudov’s left eye was swollen and injured and he could barely see out of it. Still, he threw huge haymakers with the intention of knocking him out. If it weren’t for Guido’s technical skills, he would have been cut.

Allen will have to be careful not to get hit as Makhmudov’s shots have a lot of power and weight behind them. The uppercuts and clubbing right hands he throws will cause damage if or if they land on Allen. He hasn’t fought a heavyweight at Makhmudov’s level for many years, since his fight with Tony Yoka in 2018.

“I’m trying to irritate him. I’m not sure how well it works. I wanted him to try to hit me in the head. I was trying to irritate him. The sooner he gets tired, the better,” Dave Allen said to talkSport Boxing about wanting to destroy Arslanbek Makhmudov outside and inside the ring.

Makhmudov doesn’t blink

Allen doesn’t seem to understand Makhmudov well. He seems completely indifferent to the mind games Allen is trying to play. Makhmudov has too much experience at the professional and amateur levels in Russia. Trying to irritate him probably won’t work. Again, Allen’s smile makes him seem genial. Makhmudov even said in an interview that he thought Allen was a “nice” person.

“I can’t wait to start rounds four and five. The more I can get the smile off my face, the quicker I can get him going. When he throws punches, I’ll duck and dive. I’ll get to work when he starts blowing.”