Chaos at Croke Park: Allen-Carty Heavyweight Clash Ends in No Contest
On a night scripted to celebrate Katie Taylor’s last walk to the ring, the chief support bout at Croke Park produced a finish nobody in the 80,000 crowd had paid to see.
Dave Allen’s heavyweight meeting with Irish hope Thomas Carty was over almost before it had begun, ruled a no contest after a chaotic first-round spill through the ropes left Carty unable to continue.
The clock showed just 1 minute 22 seconds when it all unravelled. Allen, the 34-year-old Doncaster journeyman who has seen just about everything in this sport, stepped in and whipped a clubbing right hand around the side and back of Carty’s head. It wasn’t a textbook knockout shot. It didn’t need to be.
Carty, a southpaw carrying the weight of home expectation and chasing the biggest win of his 12-fight career, lost his balance as much as his senses. The momentum of the punch and his own forward movement sent him tumbling awkwardly through the ropes and out of the ring, crashing to the floor at ringside.
Silence spread quickly through the stadium. What had looked like a routine exchange suddenly turned serious.
Carty lay on his back on the floor as medical staff rushed in. He received lengthy treatment, including oxygen for several minutes, while Allen waited in a neutral corner and the crowd tried to process what they had just seen on the big screens.
Eventually, Carty made it back to his feet and, to a warm reception, walked under his own steam back to the dressing rooms. The contest, though, was done. With the Irish heavyweight unable to continue after the freak fall, officials had little choice but to abandon the fight and declare it a no contest.
Allen, arms slightly outstretched and a puzzled look fixed on his face, appeared as confused as anyone inside Croke Park. This was supposed to be his chance to upset the home favourite on a grand stage. For Carty, it was meant to be the night he announced himself to a global audience.
Instead, the chief support to Taylor’s farewell ended not with a knockout or a statement win, but with a freak accident and a lingering sense of what might have been.
