Boxing tipster Chris Oliver has been in red-hot form of late, and returns with his preview of Saturday night's action from Doncaster.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday May 16
2pts Filip Hrgovic to win by decision at 15/8 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
With fans still catching their breath from a heavyweight title fight for the ages, we have more action from the big boys on Saturday night.
Daniel Dubois’s victory over Fabio Wardley last weekend was an instant classic and heavyweight season continues with Dave Allen versus Filip Hrgovic at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium.
Allen’s late-career revival has taken his cult hero status to new levels and the chance to headline a stadium show in his hometown against a top contender is something even he couldn’t see coming.
The ‘White Rhino’ looked to be on his way out of the sport before appearing to do enough to get the nod against the previously unbeaten Johnny Fisher in December 2024, only to lose a split decision. Allen (25-8-2) emphatically gained revenge with a fifth-round stoppage in the rematch and he then got a huge opportunity against Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Sheffield Arena.
Makhmudov, who has subsequently gone the distance with Tyson Fury, landed a unanimous decision that night but Allen had his moments and emerged with plenty of credit in defeat.
Hrgovic hot favourite against Allen
After stopping Karim Berredjem in the first round last time out, Allen now gets a dream homecoming bout but thrown into the bargain is arguably his toughest opponent to date.
Allen can be backed at 6/1 while it is a best price of 1/6 for Hrgovic (19-1), who brings an excellent pedigree to the table.
A European champion and Olympic bronze medalist as an amateur, there were high expectations of the latter when he turned professional and while he may not have fulfilled his potential so far, he remains one of the main players in the division.
Hrgovic has still only been beaten once, when stopped on cuts by Daniel Dubois in June 2024, and he has bounced back with two wide decision victories against Joe Joyce and David Adeleye last year.
Standing at an imposing 6’6”, the Croat has quick hands and is very accurate, while he throws an excellent back hand from the orthodox stance.
He is expected to be able to catch Allen quite regularly with his overhand right and the red-hot favourite is just 5/6 to register the 15th stoppage of his career here.
What are the best bets?
While it would be a huge upset if Hrgovic failed to win, the odds about him doing so inside the distance may be a little shorter than they should and I think there is value in him winning by decision at 15/8.
He may be a quick starter but Hrgovic has displayed stamina issues in the past and he had some worrying moments late on when given a harder fight than expected by Adeleye last time out.
That isn’t the first time he has faded late on and another common theme in his fights is Hrgovic getting cut, as his eyes seem to open up every fight now and that could also slow his progress here.
Also, Allen may not be the most elusive of fighters and isn’t hard to find, but he has an excellent chin and rarely gets caught too cleanly. The outsider is good at taking the sting out of shots by riding or parrying them, so may be a little better defensively than first meets the eye.
Allen has rarely turned up in shape but we’re promised that he will be in the best condition of his life and that he has trained like a demon for his big homecoming.
At 34, he is a very experienced heavyweight now and knows how to see a fight out well. He saw the 12 rounds out very well against the heavy-handed Makhmudov and, perhaps crucially for our selection, this fight is only scheduled for 10 rounds.
So, while Hrgovic is rightly a huge favourite and is expected to start fast, Allen looks capable of weathering the early storm and the visitor is likely to become less potent as the fight goes on. Hrgovic has been taken the full 10-round distance by British fighters in his last two outings and it could be a similar scenario on Saturday night.
Posted at 11:15 BST on 15/05/25
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