Thomas Carty vs David Allen: Controversial No-Contest at Croke Park

On a night built for coronations at Croke Park, the strangest story unfolded before the main act had even begun.

In the co-main event to Katie Taylor’s victory over Flora Pili, Irish heavyweight Thomas Carty found himself not just under pressure from Doncaster’s David Allen, but suddenly out of the ring altogether in a chaotic, one-round no-contest that has left both camps with very different versions of the same 82 seconds.

“Two illegal blows” and “loose ropes”

Carty’s team moved quickly to frame the incident. In a statement released after the fight, they claimed the 30-year-old had been on the receiving end of “two illegal blows to the back of his head” in the opening round, the second of which left him momentarily dazed and reaching for support.

“After just one minute and 30 seconds of round one, Thomas Carty had received two illegal blows to the back of his head at Croke Park on the Katie Taylor undercard,” the statement read.

They say that second shot triggered a brief lapse, forcing Carty to grab for the ropes to steady himself. What should have been a safety net, they argue, became a trap. The “loose ropes gave way,” propelling the Dubliner head first out of the ring and into a ringside table.

The impact, they added, caused a suspected concussion and left the ringside doctor with only one option: wave it off. The bout was ruled a no-contest after barely a minute and a half of action.

Carty was taken to hospital for a brain scan but has since been discharged. The statement confirmed he is back home and healthy, a crucial line on a night when the drama briefly overshadowed concern.

Allen: “I was a bit too strong and rough”

On the other side of the ring, David Allen saw the same sequence in a very different light.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the 34-year-old heavyweight made it clear he does not view this as a freak accident that should simply be filed away and forgotten. He wants the result changed — and he believes he earned it.

Allen said he intends to “speak to the boxing board and ask if it can be overturned to a win,” insisting that his physicality and pressure were already telling.

He described himself as “a bit too strong and rough” for Carty and claimed the Irishman was unlikely to trouble him, especially with Allen in what he considers proper fighting shape.

“When I'm heavy and fit, he weren’t going to hurt me in a million years. So, I smiled at him and he didn't like that,” Allen said.

The punch that sent Carty through the ropes, Allen argued, was not deliberate to the back of the head. He explained that he had aimed, as usual, for the area around the ear, only for Carty to move into the trajectory.

“I'm not aiming for the back of anyone's head ever, but I am aiming about here [the ear],” he said. “It wasn't a big shot, I tried to clip him round the ear as I always do, and he's turned his head into it. It's gone round the back of the head.”

From that moment, Allen said, the chaos took over. Carty went through the ropes, the referee stepped in, and confusion reigned.

“At the time, I said to the referee, ‘are you not going to count?’ If that was in the middle of the ring I'd have won by stoppage,” Allen added. “I lost my rag a little and said, ‘look, he's jumped out the [expletive] ring.’ I couldn't quite believe it, really, I was a bit shocked.”

A controversy with no clean ending

The sequence leaves a mess on several fronts. Carty’s team point to “two illegal blows” and faulty equipment — “loose ropes” that failed at the critical moment — as the root cause of a dangerous, avoidable situation. Allen insists he did nothing intentional, that Carty turned into the shot, and that the outcome would have been a stoppage in his favour if it had happened anywhere else in the ring.

The board will now come under pressure to review a fight that technically never got started yet has sparked a full-blown argument over rules, responsibility and safety standards on a major card.

Carty is home, recovering, and his camp have made their stance clear. Allen wants the no-contest stripped away and replaced with a win.

One wild round, no result — and a dispute that may last far longer than the fight itself.