Chaos at Croke Park: Thomas Carty's No-Contest Controversy
The noise had barely settled inside Croke Park when the heavyweight chaos began.
What was billed as a lively co-main event on the Katie Taylor undercard ended in confusion, anger and a hospital visit, as Dublin’s Thomas Carty tumbled head first out of the ring against Doncaster veteran David Allen in the very first round.
It lasted 82 seconds. It may take a lot longer to untangle.
“Two illegal blows” and “loose ropes”
Carty’s camp have come out swinging. In a statement released after the fight, they claimed “two illegal blows to the back of his head” and “loose ropes” combined to cause the extraordinary finish and the subsequent no-contest ruling.
“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 said.
They allege the second shot left the 30-year-old briefly dazed, reaching instinctively for the ropes to steady himself. Those ropes, they insist, “gave way, propelling Thomas head first out of the ring causing him to strike his head on a ringside table”.
The result: a suspected concussion, immediate medical attention and the ringside doctor stepping in to call an abrupt halt to the contest.
Carty was taken to hospital for a brain scan, but the statement confirmed he is now back home and healthy.
Allen: “I was a bit too strong and rough”
On the other side of the drama, Allen sees the night very differently.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the 34-year-old made it clear he does not believe the outcome should stand as a no-contest and said he plans to “speak to the boxing board and ask if it can be overturned to a win”.
In his view, this was a fight he was already imposing himself in.
He described himself as “a bit too strong and rough” for Carty and insisted the punch that triggered the chaos was not deliberate, saying he was simply trying to “clip him round the ear” – a shot he claims is part of his usual arsenal.
“I’m not aiming for the back of anyone’s head ever, but I am aiming about here [the ear],” Allen 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 there, the sequence spiralled. Carty turned, the punch landed around the back, and seconds later he was through the ropes and out of the ring.
“He’s jumped out the [expletive] ring”
Allen stressed he holds no personal grudge.
“He’s a good guy, I do like him,” he said, while still standing firm on his belief that he should have been declared the winner. He argued that if the same incident had occurred in the centre of the ring, the referee would have had little choice but to rule a stoppage in his favour.
“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 recalled.
His frustration boiled over in the moment.
“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 no-contest that won’t quietly disappear
For now, the result stands as a bizarre first-round no-contest on a night meant to celebrate Katie Taylor’s latest victory. But the language from both sides suggests this is not an episode that will fade quietly into the undercard.
Carty’s team are pointing to “two illegal blows” and faulty equipment. Allen is pushing for a win and defending his intent. The medical team have already had their say by pulling Carty out.
The next verdict belongs to the board.
