Heavyweight Dave Allen will return to the ring in January before another headline event in the spring following his bruising encounter with Arslanbek Makhmudov earlier this month.

The much-loved 33-year-old topped the bill in Sheffield against Makhmudov and drew a crowd in excess of 9,000 for the biggest test of his career.

But Makhmudov (20-2, 19 KOs) dominated for large spells of the fight despite a spirited effort from Allen and eventually claimed a clear unanimous decision.

Despite the beating leaving him in ‘agony’ the next day, Allen (24-8-2, 19 KOs) revealed he sent a text message to his promoter Eddie Hearn requesting a return to the ring before the end of the year in an attempt to get back to winning ways quickly.

The Ring asked Matchroom boss if that may be possible and Hearn revealed that the White Rhino from Yorkshire will have to wait until after Christmas for his comeback.

“You have to look physically at these things as well as emotionally,” Hearn said.

“He just wants to get out again. That’s what happens with a lot of these guys when they get beat, they spiral towards a danger zone where he just wants to get straight back out.

“Your head can start going a bit so you want another fight to concentrate on straight away. But I told Dave you can't have a physically tough fight like that, go back to the gym the next week and start sparring in two weeks. You just need to relax.

“So at the moment, he's scheduled for January, which is still a pretty quick turnaround. That will be an eight or 10-round fight at an easier level than Makhmudov, then we go again.”

Allen was on the verge of retiring from the sport completely before he was offered the initial fight with Johnny Fisher in December last year. Although he lost on the cards that night, there was a clamour for an immediate rematch and he stopped the Romford Bull inside five rounds of the return six months later.

The result, Hearn says, has made the ever-popular Allen a bigger draw than ever.

“He has always had support,” Hearn added. “But it’s just a different level now.

“Even DAZN came back to me and said the numbers on the Makhmudov fight were unbelievable and asked what’s next for Dave Allen. I’m getting so many messages from people asking when he is headlining in Sheffield again or what the plan is. It’s like, mate, he just got beat!

“You don’t normally get a response like this after a defeat but it just shows the draw he is and I want to make sure the next moves we make are right.

“So it’s an undercard fight next, in January, then we gamble again. Maybe that will be a slightly lower level than Makhmudov but we are thinking British, Commonwealth or European title, something like that.”

Frazer Clarke and Jeamie TKV will meet for the vacant British title in Derby on November 29 but Hearn is not enthused about the idea of either of them fighting Allen in the spring.

Allen and TKV came close to agreeing a deal to fight earlier this year while Clarke already holds a win over him following his sixth round retirement at Manchester Arena in September 2023.

Hearn said: “It really depends who holds the belt next year.

“Obviously, Dave lost to Frazer already. He didn’t train for that fight but still. Then with TKV, I’m not sure.

“It’s kind of like Dave is above British title level in terms of draw, not necessarily in terms of ability but neither Clarke or TKV represent a sexy fight. You can get an international name, like Makhmudov, who was a really a sexy fight. When I made the fight I thought it would do really well.

“People think you can just headline against anybody now but it doesn’t work like that. Makhmudov gave us the ingredients we needed to build the show into what it became.

“So now, it’s about getting out on an undercard in January, getting a win and then we go and probably headline in March or April if we can get the right opponent.”