There's some cruel irony to the fact Eddie Hearn's popular ticket seller was beaten by one of the old guard in Dave Allen, who he used to proudly call upon as part of the Matchroom stable. 

In terms of next steps, a Sheffield headliner and potentially fighting for British before European titles has emerged after an unexpected two-fight series with a former sparring partner many expected to breeze past him as Johnny Fisher did to Alen Babic last summer. 

Who would've predicted this after his forgettable Frazer Clarke display? Very few.

As his trainer Jamie Moore later confirmed, Allen has inked a two-fight deal to re-join Hearn's roster and it would've been bittersweet for the Matchroom chief Saturday night.

During a media scrum post-fight, Hearn exercised caution when asked about the possibility of a trilogy - already contracted - seeing as it's technically one apiece now.  

"I could see it one day but not next, when you get a chance to run it back like we did... people will say 'should you have taken the rematch?' The answer is yes. If you're going to go through the levels that we hope to, you learn from the first fight and beat Dave Allen. 

"He wasn't good enough in that fight, therefore you don't want him to get knocked out like that, with his inexperience, go back into number three. Allen is back again, it's going to be exciting to see what's next, we'll keep him active - maybe headline in Sheffield - extremely likable and better than people think he is, when he gets it right. Still got a lot left to give." 

As far as Fisher's rebuild, it will be slow and steady - no main events for the foreseeable future, irrespective of whether his fanbase part with their money to see him again.  

"He won't be headlining, there's a huge amount of pressure doing that, you've got to sell all the tickets, it's your night. When he walked out, the atmosphere when you look around, this place is not historic for selling tickets, doesn't generally do very well and it is rarely full up like that. He has no experience, had the Babic fight - one round - and the last Allen fight. 

"We hoped that experience would be enough to improve and get the better of Allen. It might've been 4-0, 3-1 [on the scorecards] at worst, but he wasn't getting Dave's respect. You're allowing him to walk you down consistently, got the lead hand out and it's not really working, the only other person who has done that with success is Wladimir Klitschko, it was just the experience and ring IQ of Allen." 

Before any trilogy talk can surface, Fisher needs to bank valuable rounds against better opposition than undersized former cruiserweight Babic. 

A serious bicep tear saw his proposed matchup against seasoned veteran Andriy Rudenko (37-7, 22 KOs) fall through last September and Hearn admitted the 26-year-old wasn't exactly at 100% when the Allen opportunity presented itself before Christmas.

Rudenko, who has boxed a trio of interim world titleholders in Alexander Povetkin, Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang since 2017, would've theoretically provided more stern resistance. Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke (9-1-1, 7 KOs) was among those on his wishlist, though that will be quickly forgotten now.

"He's got to get more experience. I felt a bit sorry for him at times, just didn't have the experience to deal with this guy, you can show as much heart as you want but it's like a ticking time bomb, it's gonna get you and unfortunately it did."

As far as the finishing sequence was concerned, they had warned Fisher about Allen's best weapon but in the heat of battle, his defences were again leaky under duress.

During Thursday's press conference, Allen's comments proved prophetic. He said he wouldn't do much differently, coast for the first few rounds and settle into a rhythm before upping the tempo and wearing on the younger, fitter man. 

Allen threw 24 punches to Fisher’s 58 in the first two rounds, per CompuBox. Outlanded 36-25 in the first four rounds, his output intensified in the fifth frame en route to a dramatic stoppage. 

He connected on 26-of-47 shots thrown (55.3%) in that stanza, 21 of which were deemed power punches, as Fisher found himself in dire straits after being wobbled by an overhand right.

"The same thing happened here as the first fight, Dave exerted his pressure and Johnny's energy levels depleted, he made a mistake and got caught by a big right. I said to him in the ring, just before the fight, 'mind the f----ng right hand over the top', it's his signature shot."

Allen admitted he was overweight and could afford to be against Fisher, knowing he owned a psychological edge over him from their frantic first encounter on December 21 in Riyadh. 

Although not body beautiful tipping the scales at 265-pounds - the second largest of his career - he didn't need to be.

"I don't think it really matters, I don't know what's good and bad for Dave because I've had him in shape and he's been s--t, been fat and great, here he fancied the job," Hearn said on his weight management. 

"I just want him to get the best out of what he's got, used to really p--- me off because I thought he had so much potential and never showed it, now you're seeing it come back. Just for the next year, take it seriously, believe in yourself, listen to Jamie [Moore] and Nigel [Travis], go from there. He's a good fighter, British and European level, not world-class but..

"He had a good payday in Saudi, even better here, two or three fights with him now on great money, he'll be financially secure for the rest of his life. European title, the Adeleye-TKV winner, a big world name in Sheffield, let's see."

Newly-crowned British champion David Adeleye (14-1, 13 KOs) was an invested viewer ringside, covering their heavyweight contest for the BBC.

Afterwards, he told Steve Bunce: "I'm not really surprised with what happened, it was a good fight for the public, good finish and mature performance from Allen. Johnny was a bit too timid going in and that didn't work in his favour." 

The 28-year-old said his proposed rematch with Jeamie Tshikeva, won by Queensberry in last week's purse bid, isn't fan-friendly but he wouldn't be opposed to making it a quicker night - much like Allen did. It's entirely possible they could share the ring in the not-too-distant future, forming another cross-promotional domestic showdown.