Johnny Fisher says that winning the British heavyweight title is the dream, and is hopeful that a “massive” fight with Frazer Clarke could be on the cards for 2025.
The 25-year-old, who has won all 12 of his professional bouts so far – 11 by knockout, including a first-round KO of Alen Babic in July – will fight Dave Allen on the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury undercard on December 21, but has Clarke in his sights soon after.
Clarke, an Olympic bronze medallist as an amateur at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, suffered his first pro loss in a rematch against Fabio Wardley on October 12 – his jaw broken when knocked down in the first round and requiring surgery.
“Frazer Clarke could be there,” Fisher said of potential opponents next year, before adding: “I will caveat that by saying I hope Frazer is okay and healing up well, because I was quite worried for him after that knockout.
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A look at the reaction of the Sky Sports Boxing studio as Fabio Wardley emphatically stops Frazer Clarke inside one round.
“I’ve got huge respect for Frazer, he has competed at a level I could only dream of in terms of his amateur pedigree.
“That would be a massive fight, but I’m not one to call names out or anything. It’s just if the time is right and it suits, then we’ll both get it on.”
Fisher added: “Frazer is someone I would regard as a friend, like I could regard Dave Allen as a friend. They’re people that I could I could see me having a good time in life with outside of the ring, but this is a profession, and when you get the gloves on, you fight.
Dave Allen is Johnny Fisher’s next opponent, as part of the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury undercard on December 21
“Whoever is there at the time, I’d love to win the British title. That’s just my dream. That’s a proper iconic belt to win, the names I’d be among then.”
Nicknamed the Romford Bull, Fisher has developed quite the following since making his professional debut in February 2021, with an ever-increasing fanbase following him up and down the country – as well as to Las Vegas for his first overseas fight against Dmytro Bezus back in February.
“It’s not cheap for people, and especially in a time of an economic crisis, where people haven’t got spare money, it’s humbling for me,” Fisher said of his loyal support.
Alen Babic was beaten by knockout in the first round of his bout with Johnny Fisher in July
“I can only be grateful for that. Obviously, I need to go and back it up… that’s the key. And so far, I have backed it up. A lot of people didn’t think I’d beat Babic, they thought it was too early.
“But people in the boxing world who have seen me spar, seen me train and see how hard I work, they know I can dispatch of people like that pretty easily – and I did within 20 to 30 seconds.”
Fisher added: “All of that stuff [fanbase], it is secondary to being a great boxer. Being a great boxer and honing your skills as much as you can is the is the fundamental of where I want to get to.
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Johnny Fisher had an amusing Stoke analogy for rival Moses Itauma when asked about his credentials and said opponents need to get their ‘shin pads on’ if they want to beat him.
“But we need to put bums on seats, and to do that, you need to put your character across. You need to be authentic, you need to give something for people to buy into.
“People love their football teams, and we’ve sort of created a football environment but with our football team you’ve got Millwall fans and West Ham fans together, you’ve got Man Utd and Man City fans with each other.”
Sticking with football, Fisher – a West Ham fan – was asked if fighting at the London Stadium would be another dream of his, and what other venues would appeal.
“That would be amazing,” he said. “Or Twickenham, as I’m a massive rugby fan and my dad is a massive rugby fan.
Could Wimbledon one day play host to the Romford Bull and a big boxing title fight?
“I was at Wimbledon in the summer as well, and I was looking at Centre Court – I think that would be an amazing, iconic venue.
“They’ll never do it. They’d be a bit funny about the Romford Bull army turning up, but we’ll see.”
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