Will 'Romford Bull' Johnny become The Fisher King?

On the first Saturday of February, rising heavyweight prospect Johnny Fisher saw off a light snack in opponent Dmytro Bezus on Matchroom Boxing’s lunchtime card,  headlined by Conor Benn on the 4^th floor of The Cosmopolitan Hotel along the Las Vegas strip.

Fisher overwhelmed Bezus with ease in the first round, moving his record to 11-0 with only one going the distance. As a moderate point of interest, fellow British heavyweight prospect David Adeleye stopped the same big old lump in two rounds when they met last year. But, anyway…

“Round one knockout. He weren’t throwing back. I think I measured it well. I think the last camp I’ve turned a corner in how my temperament is. I know I can be rough, I know I can be tough, but it’s about setting things up, ‘cus as we go up the levels, it’s going to be different.” said Fisher, speaking to Matchroom Boxing in the ring, after the victory.

In his previous fight, back on the Anthony Joshua v Robert Helenius undercard in August of 2023, Fisher dealt with the game Harry Armstrong to claim the Southern Area heavyweight title, before capping off that same year as the Boxing Writers’ Club’s ‘Best Young Boxer of the Year’, an award whose previous winners include Barry McGuigan, Nigel Benn, Naseem Hamed, Frank Bruno and Joe Calzaghe. Serious company.

“It is an absolute honour to receive the award of ‘Best Young Boxer of the Year’ by the Boxing Writers’ Club,” said Fisher. “I think of the names that come before me and it’s unbelievable; Frank Bruno being one of them that springs to mind immediately.”

OK - so far, so typical for a good, solid prospect. Johnny is easily beating what is put in front of him, blowing them away in fact, winning awards and picking up international experience. What is far from typical for an 11-fight professional and what immediately sets him apart, is the incredible popularity he enjoys, one that already echoes with the energy and vibration of a peak Ricky Hatton blue moon era.

Johnny ‘The Romford Bull’ Fisher fights out of his Essex hometown in the UK where he enjoys such support, that rather than just fandom, his followers have their own collective noun. The ‘Bull Army Bosh Soldiers’ are thousands deep in their number, tribal, vocal and sartorially unmissable in their Bull Army merchandise. Yes, there’s merchandise already. They buy tickets in the thousands too, the majority of them directly from Johnny himself and from his irrepressible father, John Snr. Then start the day with a full English, embrace the day with a boozer or two and then turn that energy of the day into a frenzy of support come fight night.

Get this. Back in just his fifth fight, and ironically the only bout to go the distance so far, Fisher outpointed the now 10-12 Spanish import Gabriel Enguema on the undercard of John Ryder’s winning dust-up with Danny Jacobs at Alexandra Palace. For this learning fight night in the capital, father and son personally sold 2000 tickets and told reporters that they could have sold a lot more. They could have.

It isn’t only the friends and friends of friends in Essex that are supporting the Fishers. University years at Exeter, pursuing a degree in history and sporting endeavour on the rugby fields, perhaps make the South West of the country another bedrock of support, but their popularity is nationwide.

This growing national following is probably a bit of a surprise to the Fishers themselves. Like Hatton, much of the support is for a fighter and family who are simply good, authentic, entertaining and talented people.

Yes, they have become adept at leveraging social media engagement. What started with glimpses into family life, training videos, chats to camera and the minutiae of the everyday has grown in the multiplatform phenomenon that is the cult of ‘Bosh’ – if you’re not aware of that, Google and enjoy.

Back to the boxing. Johnny Fisher had a limited amateur career. BoxRec publishes 2-0 with 2 KOs but the ledger is understood to be nearer 10 unbeaten. Dabbling with the gloves in his teens petered out until lacing them back up during the second year of university to become a sparring partner for Joe Joyce, as part of ‘The Juggernaut’s’ preparations for the Daniel Dubois fight.

Turning professional, Fisher signed promotional and management papers with Matchroom Boxing and S-Jam respectively, before making his debut in the pro ranks – a stoppage victory - in February 2021. You also couldn’t think of a better training team fit than the one headed by Mark Tibbs at the Origin Gym in Rainham, Essex, for the Romford man. Tibbs Fisher has McCracken-Froch longevity written all over it.

The British heavyweight scene is also a good one right now. We obviously have the proper elites in Fury and Joshua, the damn goods in Dubois and Joyce and then beneath that, the stepping-right-uppers in British champion Fabio Wardley and recent opponent Frazer Clarke.

Johnny Fisher currently sits at No. 11 in BoxRec’s British heavyweight rankings with only Nathan Gorman, David Adeleye and Solomon Dacres above him in that order, before we reach Frazer at No. 7. Sometime pretty soon, Moses Itauma is also going to be a big part of the conversation. That kid looks very special.

There are plenty of players in the game, plenty of opportunities ahead for those that progress and plenty of money to be made, especially with the call of the Middle East where the heavyweight is king.

So, can Johnny become a Fisher King himself? A fight with an Adeleye or Dacres is probably still a couple more away. Dave Allen would be an interesting test with name value and it has been mentioned. If Nathan Gorman decides to continue and can get himself into shape, that would be a good one but again, unlikely. Is Nick Webb still fighting?

In Fisher’s next outing, we expect a step-up of sorts, there has to be and he certainly looks ready for that. A Mariusz Wach-type opponent is probably where we are heading or maybe Mariusz Wach himself.

As Eddie Hearn himself has increasingly acknowledged, the Venn diagram of the Bosh and the Boxing, whilst essential in continuing to propel Fisher forward, has to soon see a credible challenge in the centre where the circles overlap, and that could be a domestic one.

Johnny Fisher clearly has the tight team, athletic ability, proven popularity and time on his side at 25 years old, to become something really special.

He is also realistic and strategic. In speaking with Matchroom Boxing he said, “This year looks promising. We sat down with Eddie before Christmas, and you have a blueprint where you want to go. You don’t want to look too far ahead but we’re looking at the English and British.” 

Winston Churchill, once said, “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.” and as a man of history himself, Johnny ‘The Romford Bull’ Fisher could well say the same.

Bosh.