ROTHERHAM, England - Stood in a draughty, repurposed former steelworks and bedecked in a black leather jacket and matching polo neck jumper, the imposing Arslanbek Makhmudov stands tall, arches that famous eyebrow and listens intently to the question he is being asked.

Over the years, the hulking Makhmudov has been described as a frightening, intimidating monster. For a long time, the 36 year-old Russian lived up to the reputation and scored a series of brutal knockouts but his progress has slowed and defeats to Agit Kabayel and Guido Vianello have shattered that aura of invincibility.

Those old lines and descriptions have been rehashed to help sell this weekend’s heavyweight fight with Dave Allen. DAZN will stream the event exclusively from Sheffield Arena.

Makhmudov (20-2, 19 KOs) has leaned into the build-up, happily discussing his bear-wrestling exploits and posting videos of his training partners touching his torso with sledgehammers.

Makhmudov was in a good-natured mood as he completed his final media duties before Saturday’s fight and told The Ring that he doesn’t consciously use intimidation to try and unsettle his opponents.

“I don't think about this stuff because people told me, 'Oh, you’re scary' like being scary is a good thing,” he told The Ring.

“A long time ago I just stopped even thinking about people's opinion because it's not interesting for me anymore. I just do my job, do my best job, my work, my life. I don't think about what people think.

“We don’t go to the ring for a funny job. We go to destroy each other. It's not a funny time, right? But in life, people who know me - my coaches or my family - they know I'm not so crazy. I’m a normal guy. At least I try to be.”

If Makhmudov was in an amiable mood on Thursday, he will certainly have his game face on on Saturday night.

In December 2023, Makhmudov was stopped in the fourth round by Kabayel. In August 2024 he was halted after seven rounds of his fight with Vianello. He is aware that he needs an eye-catching win to ensure that his name is once again mentioned in meaningful heavyweight conversations.

The news that Allen had hand chosen him from a list of five potential opponents was welcome but unexpected. Makhmudov was unaware of it when the fight was first proposed but has come to realise that the 33 year-old Yorkshireman offers him a high profile but winnable route back to prominence.

“Yes, I was happy, but to be honest, I follow myself and focus on myself a lot. I don't know many guys from my division. I didn't know him,” he said. “I just checked him, 'Who is this guy? Okay, good guy.'

“But like I said, I didn't know him before. I never see his fights but it was good news the fight was in UK. I never fought and have never been in the UK. Can you imagine? I was in around 20 countries around the world, but never been in UK.

“I was so happy and it was a dream to be in the UK because I know it's like the home of boxing and I know I have a lot of fans here. That's why I was excited to come here.”

Allen (24-7-2, 19 KOs) is a unique character. He is undoubtedly talented but also incredibly unpredictable and he has allowed self-doubt to derail his career.

His weaknesses - and his willingness to discuss them - have turned him into a fan favourite.

Over the past 18 months he seems to have found himself. A one-sided knockout of his British rival, Johnny Fisher, has reinvigorated him and around nine thousand fans are expected to file into the Sheffield Arena on Saturday night. Thursday’s press conference attracted scores of video journalists, all keen to get their own Dave Allen quote.

Makhmudov was aware of how popular heavyweight boxing is in Britain but given Allen’s patchy record and the fact that he had never heard of him before the fight was offered, he could be forgiven for being surprised by just how big an event he has walked into.

“It’s not too much surprise because it's his home, first of all,” Makhmudov said as he looked around. “Second thing, this guy has a lot of fights - around 30 fights. All his career he fights here. That's normal.

“It's same thing like when I'm in Canada. In Canada, people know me.”

While Allen has been given second, third and fourth chances to succeed, Makhmudov knows that another defeat will all but end his chances of making an impact at world level.

The defeat he suffered at the hands of Kabayel hasn’t aged too badly considering what the excellent German has gone on to achieve but his one-paced, conclusive loss to Vianallo is harder to explain away.

Makhmudov has been boxing for almost 30 years but he has remained open minded enough to rethink his approach.

“Yes, of course. Every loss or mistake can help you improve to fix your mistakes. If you don't understand, you don't improve and it's going to be even worse,” he said.

“[For my] boxing skills to become more disciplined. For example, if I trained before and I think it's enough two times a day, after this loss I understand it's not enough. I start to train every day three times so it's helped me to improve my boxing skills and improve my mistakes.”