Heavyweight Dave Allen saw his 39th professional bout against Thomas Carty end in a no contest after just 82 seconds at Croke Park. An accidental punch sent Carty out of the ring, leaving Allen’s planned retirement timetable in complete confusion.
The brief heavyweight contest ended abruptly during an exchange near the ropes when Allen landed a shot behind Carty’s head. Carty fell through the ropes and dropped from the elevated platform into the ringside area, where his foot became tangled in a chair. Medical personnel immediately treated the Irish fighter with oxygen before officials ruled he was unable to resume. Falling outside the ring presented heightened danger beyond a typical knockdown due to the surrounding equipment.
Under unified boxing rules, a fighter knocked out of the ring receives 20 seconds to return unassisted. Because the foul was deemed accidental and occurred before four rounds were completed, officials had no option to go to the scorecards. Trainer Jamie Moore detailed the decisive exchange after the bout. “He’s gone to hit him in the side of the head. He’s turned his head, he’s hit him in the back of the head, and he’s fallen out of the ring,” he said.
Allen was visibly unhappy inside the ring, but Moore acknowledged the referee had made the correct assessment. He stated: “Dave can’t win on an unintentional foul, but he can’t lose either. So it’s got to be a no contest. By the rules, they’ve done the right thing.”
The outcome erased the brief fight competitively, leaving both men without a result following full training camps.
Before the dramatic ending, Carty had tried to press Allen behind a southpaw jab. However, Allen closed the distance faster than expected and forced heavy exchanges at close range. “I was over the moon with the way it was going up until that point. It was just over way too quickly to tell anything.” Moore noted.
Despite the strange outcome, the contest officially registers as the 39th bout of Allen’s professional career. Allen has maintained that he will retire after 40 fights. He must now decide whether to schedule a rematch with Carty or target a larger domestic payday for his final ring appearance. Looking ahead to the decision, Moore said: “That was fight 39, so he’s got one more to do, and that’s it. We’ll see what happens.”
