On a night built to celebrate Katie Taylor’s farewell, the chief support bout at Croke Park produced a very different kind of drama – and it lasted barely longer than a ring walk.
Dave Allen’s heavyweight meeting with Irish favourite Thomas Carty was waved off after just 1 minute 22 seconds of the first round, ruled a no contest when Carty fell out of the ring and could not continue.
The atmosphere had been building for the Dublin southpaw, a local hope chasing the biggest win of his 12-fight career in front of an 80,000-strong crowd. Then, almost before the contest had taken shape, chaos.
Allen, the 34-year-old journeyman from Doncaster, slung a clubbing right hand that landed on the back of Carty’s head. The shot and Carty’s own forward momentum combined to send him tumbling through the ropes and out of the ring, crashing to the floor at ringside.
Silence replaced the roar. Carty lay on his back as medical staff rushed in, administering oxygen for several minutes while Allen paced in a neutral corner, looking as confused as everyone else inside the stadium.
Eventually, Carty was able to sit up and then rise to his feet, drawing a ripple of relieved applause. He walked back to the changing room under his own power, but the decision had already been made. The fight was abandoned, the result declared a no contest, and a highly anticipated heavyweight showcase dissolved into a footnote on a historic card.
Allen could only stare out at the vast arena, sharing the same bemusement as the thousands who had come expecting a war and instead saw a heavyweight contest end with its leading man on the arena floor, not the canvas.
