The Utilita Arena sits tucked away here in Carbrook, halfway from the centre to the M1. For years, it has served as the region's premier sports and entertainment destination.

This Friday, it hosts its latest pop extravaganza - the return of American superstar Katy Perry, whose chart-friendly anthems proved omnipresent radio staples a decade ago.

One night later though, the glitz and the glamour makes way for something more careworn and earthbound - and remarkably, just as much of a ticket-shifting headliner too.

When informed he will top the bill just twenty-four hours after Perry, Dave Allen blinks in genuine surprise, eyebrows clambering into his hairline, before his face splits into a grin.

"I'd have gone tomorrow night," he faux-complains with an artful shrug. "I like Katy Perry. We've got those similarities." He lets out a low-key chuckle. "We're both sassy, I guess."

Further down the A6178, corrugated walls and rebar beams tear holes against a soft October skyline, metal sheets hued in ink-black and rust-brown sat large against the horizon.

Stood beneath the shadow of the former Templeborough steelworks, Arslanbek Makhmudov is the only man present who might risk cracking his head amid its juddering size.

A smidgen under two metres, the Canada-based fighter is conversely nonplussed when asked about following Perry onto the stage a night later, to the delight of his entourage.

But there's a quietude that sets the 'Lion' apart from 'The White Rhino' - a language barrier, of course, but more that he possesses a surprisingly soft-spoken and composed edge.

"I'm very excited to fight here," he murmurs amid the hustle and the bustle as journalists float around him and his team. "I have a lot of fans here. The UK is the home of boxing."

It marks the first professional visit to the country for the star, but the Rotherham chill means he already feels at home. "I'm from Montreal," he chuckles. "It's the same as this."

Just a few feet apart, inside the Face of Steel at Manga Science Adventure Centre, two heavyweight stars who refuse to play the showbiz game stand before a turning point.

Make no mistake, this is a legacy-defining bout for both men, with risk and reward at play. But for the home favourite, this is what he terms as a bonus beyond expectations.

Allen never thought he would get to this stage. Twelve months ago, he was planning for a second retirement, with a final bout against ex-sparring partner Johnny Fisher.

Everybody knows what happened now. Allen scored a knockdown and lost a split-decision in Riyadh. Five months later, he stopped his foe inside five rounds in their rematch.

As sporting comebacks go, it's one of the better feel-good tales spun from the canvas in the past year; a journeyman whose new lease of life has him trained on greater heights.

Now, the Doncaster man has an chance to see his name in lights, the bill-topping act at a venue he knows like the back of his hand - and for what he sees as a no-loss situation.

Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

In training, Allen has found renewed focus. His trainers say he is in the best shape of his career; his stablemates feel like they have sparred with a new man when on the pads.

His laser focus is commendable. But he is under no illusion about the size of the task at hand against a fighter that he feels could be among the toughest he has ever faced.

Stood only a few feet apart as they undertake media interviews ahead of their final pre-fight press conference, Allen tends to glance at Makhmudov more than vice versa.

There is a chalk-and-cheese quality about them. As the day wears on, the former remains filled with a frenetic energy, pulling faces at Conner Tudsbury as he floats around.

By contrast, Makhmudov is impassive, almost perpetually stone-faced as he goes through the motions and obligations of this affair, at his most comfortable away from the lights.

The weight seemingly weighs on both men in different ways - and whoever can master that command at the top of the glamour division will be rewarded come Saturday night.

If it is Makhmudov, then his ambitions of a world title shot could be realised once again in the next two years. If it is Allen, then the reward will be the biggest bout of his career.

For the latter, a man long past what could have been the end point of his professional career, he is determined to make the most of it - and like Perry, could yet deliver fireworks.

"This is my free shot, really," he muses. "If I beat this guy, I get a top-ten opponent. If I don't, it's back to where I was before. It was a no-brainer - unless he chins me!"

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