Thomas Carty dramatically toppled through the ropes after being hit on the back of the head in the opening round of his clash with David Allen on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s fight at Croke Park on Saturday; the bout was declared a ‘no contest’ after Carty was unable to continue Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Thomas Carty was ‘blatantly’ fouled by David Allen, who should have been disqualified after the bizarre ending to their fight, says the Irishman’s manager Mike Ofo. Carty dramatically toppled through the ropes after being hit on the back of the head in the opening round of his clash with Allen on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s farewell fight at Croke Park on Saturday. The bout was declared a ‘no contest’ after Carty was unable to continue, but Ofo believes Allen should have been penalised for an illegal blow. Ofo told Sky Sports: “I am very disappointed about what happened on Saturday night at Croke Park and the untimely halt to what should have been the crowning achievement of Thomas’ career so far.
“Thomas was pumped to be fighting on such an historic event in front of such an enormous crowd at the home of Irish sport and was gutted by the bizarre turn of events. “What happened was plain for all to see with Allen blatantly fouling him twice in quick succession in response to Thomas’ punishing jab that immediately marked up Allen’s face. “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.” Speaking on his YouTube channel, Allen had attempted to explain the final punch of the fight by saying: ” I went up a bit close, caught him with a left hook to the body and rattled him a little bit to the head. “I think, then he threw a combination, knocked my head back with an uppercut.
“But then he grabbed me frantically. I’m not aiming for the back of anyone’s head ever, but I am aiming about here [the ear]. “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 on, I don’t know. It’s not for me to say what’s happened. He’s a good guy, I do like him… “I’ve caught him behind the head, not on purpose; he’s turned into, and he’s gone through the ropes.
“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.” But Ofo has dismissed Allen’s account and is confident that Carty would have been victorious by stoppage if the fight had not ended prematurely. The unfortunate ending to the fight was another cruel twist of luck for Carty, who endured his sole defeat last year after suffering a freakish knee injury, but the 30-year-old hopes to record his 12th professional win in a rematch with Allen. Ofo said: “I see he is already busy trying to set a narrative but that is gaslighting and Thomas and the team were all confident that he would have stopped Allen in the later rounds, particularly in light of the terrible shape Allen turned up in. Frankly, he should change his nickname from ‘The White Rhino’ to ‘The White Hippo.’ “However, once the BUI have reconsidered the referee’s decision and done the right thing, we will happily give Allen a rematch and they can settle it once and for all – hopefully inside the ring this time!” Allen declined to comment on Ofo’s comments.
