Carty vs Allen: Controversial No Contest at Croke Park
The ropes at Croke Park were meant to frame Thomas Carty’s biggest night. Instead, they swallowed him.
In the opening round of his heavyweight clash with David Allen on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s farewell, Carty was sent tumbling clean through the ropes after a blow to the back of the head. The fight was waved off. The result: a no contest. The fallout: far more explosive.
‘Blatantly fouled’ – Carty camp furious
Carty’s manager, Mike Ofo, has launched a scathing attack on both Allen and the officiating, insisting the Englishman should have been disqualified on the spot.
“What happened was plain for all to see,” Ofo told Sky Sports, adamant that Allen “blatantly fouling him twice in quick succession” turned a career-defining opportunity into chaos.
The sequence was brief but dramatic. Carty started sharply, snapping out a stiff jab that immediately marked up Allen’s face. The Irishman looked settled, composed, feeding off the roar of a huge Dublin crowd on a historic night for Irish boxing.
Then the mood changed.
Allen closed the distance, the exchanges grew scrappier, and in the clinch came the controversy. Ofo claims two illegal shots landed, the second a “rabbit punch” to the back of Carty’s head that sent the 30-year-old crashing through the ropes and out of the ring.
For Ofo, the rulebook leaves no room for interpretation.
“The second, illegal rabbit punch to the back of Thomas’ head knocked him clean through the ropes and there is only one outcome under the rules of boxing in those circumstances – a DQ loss for Allen.”
Instead, with Carty unable to continue, the referee called a no contest. No winner, no loser, and no closure.
Allen’s defence: ‘I’m not aiming for the back of anyone’s head’
Allen, speaking on his YouTube channel, offered a very different reading of the incident.
He described stepping in close, landing a left hook to the body and then catching Carty “a little bit to the head” before being tagged by an uppercut in reply. According to Allen, Carty then grabbed at him, the pair tangled, and the decisive shot was not deliberate.
“I’m not aiming for the back of anyone’s head ever,” Allen said, explaining he usually aims around the ear. This time, he argued, Carty turned into the punch, which “has gone round the back of the head.”
Allen insisted it “wasn’t a big shot,” and even suggested that if the same blow had landed in mid-ring rather than near the ropes, he might have forced a stoppage victory.
“I’ve caught him behind the head, not on purpose; he’s turned into it, and he’s gone through the ropes,” he said, adding that he had asked the referee in the moment: “Are you not going to count?”
From Allen’s perspective, it was an unfortunate accident in a messy exchange. From Carty’s corner, it was anything but.
‘Gaslighting’ and a call for a DQ
Ofo has dismissed Allen’s explanation outright, accusing the veteran of trying to “set a narrative” in the aftermath.
“That is gaslighting,” Ofo said, underlining his belief that the Irish heavyweight was on course to dominate the later rounds, especially given the condition in which Allen arrived.
Ofo did not hold back when assessing Allen’s shape on the night, joking that the Englishman should change his nickname from “The White Rhino” to “The White Hippo.”
Behind the barbs lies a serious demand. Carty’s team want the Boxing Union of Ireland (BUI) to review the referee’s decision and overturn the no contest to a disqualification win for their fighter.
For them, this isn’t just about one punch. It’s about a pattern of misfortune that has stalked Carty’s career just as it threatened to ignite.
Another cruel twist for Carty – and a rematch on the horizon
This was supposed to be the crowning moment of Carty’s professional journey so far: a heavyweight showcase on home soil, under the lights at Croke Park, beneath the banner of Katie Taylor’s farewell. Instead, it became another hard-luck story.
Last year, Carty’s only professional defeat came after a freak knee injury. Now, on the brink of his 12th professional win, he was left sprawled through the ropes and out of the contest before the fight had really begun.
Ofo remains convinced that, had the bout continued, Carty would have forced a stoppage against Allen in the later rounds. That confidence has not dimmed, even amid the anger.
“Once the BUI have reconsidered the referee’s decision and done the right thing,” Ofo said, “we will happily give Allen a rematch and they can settle it once and for all – hopefully inside the ring this time!”
Allen has declined to respond to Ofo’s latest comments. The official result stands. The tape tells one story, the corners tell two others, and the governing body now sits with the most important voice of all.
For Carty, the question is stark: does this night go down as a cruel interruption, or the spark that finally forces his heavyweight rise into the spotlight?
