Fearsome heavyweight power-puncher Arslanbek Makhmudov will face iron-jawed Dave Allen on Saturday at the Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England.

The Russian-born fighter is excited at the prospect of sharing a ring with the popular Brit, who picked him when he was given a list of fighters to face, in his homecoming after stopping Johnny Fisher in May. Allen-Makhmudov, plus undercard action, will begin on DAZN at 2p.m. ET/7p.m GMT.

"I think it's a great fight," Makhmudov (20-2, 19 KOs) told The Ring. "This guy will come to fight and I respect that, because it takes two warriors to go to the war.

"He didn't have to fight me, so you see he's not afraid, but maybe in the ring it will be different for him."

The 36-year-old believes he was selected because he has lost two of his last four outings. However, he is keen to prove he still has more than enough in the tank to beat Allen.

"I think he knows I'm coming to fight but maybe he also thinks he can beat me because of my losses," he said. "We will see, but I've learned a lot from losses, you know they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so I hope he doesn't pay too much attention to my loss because I'm a lot better and stronger now."

Makhmudov returned to action back in June when he iced previously unbeaten Ricardo Browne in a one-round. The win was pivotal at this stage of his career.

"Of course, for me, it's war, kill or be killed," he said. "But this is boxing, you have to learn fast because you can't lose too many fights.

"I knew I was better than this guy like I know I'm better than [Dave Allen]. You don't get many opportunities like this, so I need to win Saturday and that's what I'm going to do."

Mahkmudov promises to bring his own brand of destruction on Saturday night.

"Hopefully, he's going to come to fight, I'm going to bring war to him," he said menacingly. "I won't change, so much my style, but I'm more professional boxer than before, I'm a lot more prepared, and I just had the best camp. You will see a Lion, on Saturday, and he's going to come back from hunting with a win."

Eye of The Tiger President Camille Estephan believes the fans will be the true winner when these two forces collide.

"It's a fight made for TV," said Estephan. "Apparently, they have sold 8,000 tickets and it will be quite a show.

"I can confirm that Arslanbek has had the best camp in his life. He's very motivated by this fight. It promises a lot of fireworks, and I believe it will be a very violent fight."

Allen has been a professional since 2012. He showed his toughness going through distance with Dillian Whyte (UD 10) in July 2016 and then giving an honest effort against Luis Ortiz (TKO 7) five months later. He gave then unbeaten Tony Yoka a good examination before being stopped in the 10th and final round in June 2018.

He lost when he stepped up domestically against David Price (RTD 10) in July 2019 and Frazer Clarke (RTD 6) in September 2023. However, he breathed new life into his career and seemed unlucky against Johnny Fisher (SD 10) last December. Allen stopped Fisher in five rounds in a rematch on May 17.

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him on X @AnsonWainwr1ght.