Later this evening, around 9,000 fans are expected at the Sheffield Arena to watch local hero Dave Allen fight Arslanbek Makhmudov in an intriguing heavyweight fight. The event is being streamed globally by DAZN.

Before that, there is a seven fight undercard.

Ibraheem Sulaimaan (9-0, 4 KOs) stepped up a level and the junior lightweight coasted to an easy eight round win over Romania’s James Chereji (22-7, 10 KOs).

The only stoppage defeat on Chereji’s record came at the hands of former IBF junior welterweight title holder, Liam Paro, back in 2020, and he produced a predictably workmanlike performance.

Sulaimaan is a gangly awkward counter puncher, but the 24-year-old from Birmingham is also capable of putting together spiteful combinations when he senses weakness. He clipped the solid Cereji with a hard left uppercut in the fourth and came close with the same shot in the fifth but, overall, he was content to set the distance with his front foot and quick jab and wait for the Romanian to over commit.

Sensing that he lacked the speed or power to trouble Sulaimaan, Ceraji went into his shell and safely negotiated the eight rounds.

The decision was a formality and Sulaimaan was was handed a comfortable 80-72 decision.

Joe Howarth got the show underway with a one-sided win over Karl Sampson.

There have been rumours that the lightweight may be set for a December clash with the highly rated Giorgio Visioli, who boxes in Philadelphia tonight on the undercard of Jaron Ennis’ junior middleweight debut against Uisma Lima, and the 23-year-old produced an aggressive, but controlled performance.

Howarth (14-1, 4 KOs) rampaged through the early stages of his career, but back in 2023 the quick fists of Josh Sandford highlighted some weaknesses in his style.

Now working with Allen, Howarth showed plenty of improvement and dominated each and every round of the super lightweight fight.

Despite his record, Sampson (9-60-1, 1 KO) is more than capable of turning over a young prospect if he is allowed to hit his stride, but Howarth never allowed him to get a foothold in the fight.

It wasn’t a thrilling spectacle, but it did show that Howarth is evolving into a more patient, thoughtful fighter. He coasted to a shut out victory and the scoring referee awarded him a 60-54 decision.

Another of the fighters Allen looks after, Joe Hayden, also racked up six useful rounds.

The 26 year-old southpaw from Conisbrough boxed his way past former Welsh champion Angelo Dragone (10-9, 1 KO) in a welterweight contest.

Hayden (20-0, 2 KOs) is a slick, stylish fighter who uses his height well. He found it relatively easy to time the shorter, more aggressive Dragone and landed with some crisp lead right hooks.

Dragone quickly ran out of ideas and tried to make things rough and untidy, but midway through the fourth, Hayden walked him into a perfectly timed straight left hand and dropped him. Although he couldn’t find enough clean, hard shots to close the show, Hayden boxed well and continued to land well picked, accurate punches. After six rounds, he was awarded a clear 60-53 decision.

Explosive light heavyweight, Conner Tudsbury (3-0, 2 KOs), remained unbeaten with an excellent fourth round stoppage of Khalid Graidia (13-16-5, 4 KOs) .

In February of 2024, Graidia endured a difficult, embarrassing night against Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker but he has given some of Britain’s top light heavyweights some solid work. and the Frenchman gave Tudsbury a quick illustration of his danger by landing an early left hook.

Considering Tudsbury, 25, has been sidelined by injury since March, this was a nice, ambitious piece of matchmaking and the Mancunian quickly warmed to his task.

Tudsbury won a bronze medal at the Youth World Championships in 2018 and began to go through the gears. Early in the fourth, he ended a blistering combination with a hard right hook to the body. Graidia tried to fight back but, a couple of seconds later, he turned away in distress and the fight was stopped.