On Saturday evening, without a title on the line and against an opponent in Alen Babic with which he has no perceived rivalry, the heavyweight Johnny Fisher will be cheered to the ring at London’s Copper Box Arena by thousands of fans.
In his 12th professional fight – he won the Southern Area title by stopping Harry Armstrong in his 10th – and without showing the potential Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois and even Moses Itauma did as British’s most promising young heavyweight, at a venue that will therefore almost tediously be referred to as “the Copper Bosh”, he will be the main attraction.
At that same venue in February, the middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz – increasingly recognised as perhaps Britain’s finest young fighter – was matched with the proven Liam Williams and stopped him in under three minutes. Williams was viewed as capable of testing him for the first time as a professional – similar applies to Babic in the context of Fisher – and yet despite the exciting, marketable, local Anthony Yarde featuring on the undercard and then being on course to fight Joshua Buatsi, that same venue remained far from sold out.
The British fight scene, somewhat in contrast to that of America, places particular value in the number of tickets a fight night sells. Tickets are also typically sold well in advance of fight night – so-called “walk ups” can prove so influential at American locations – and it is the combination of that, and the noise generated by British crowds, that often makes the fight scene in which Fisher is established the envy of promoters around the world.
There existed a degree of sneering at the 25-year-old Fisher when he was named the Boxing Writers’ Club’s young fighter of the year. Those sneering at “the Romford Bull” perceived him to lack the potential of Sheeraz, Williams, George Groves and other illustrious winners of the award in the modern era, but his trainer Mark Tibbs, who oversaw Whyte’s finest performances, has suggested he has the ability to reach the same level as Whyte.
Fisher’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is professionally obliged to compliment his abilities, but he and Matchroom have reputations to preserve and – in so many respects more importantly – in DAZN a broadcaster to satisfy, and he had no reluctance to build Saturday’s promotion on Fisher’s status at the top of the bill.
“It’s almost unexplainable,” Hearn said to BoxingScene of Fisher’s profile. “The reality is he’s a young heavyweight prospect, and it kind of came from nowhere. Behind closed doors at Fight Camp, he only had 40 or 50 tickets to sell, ‘cause that’s all we were giving to fighters, and he sold them. We had absolutely no idea that he would go on and be the ticket seller that he is.
“It was a show we did after that – he did 700 or 800 in London [at The O2 Arena], and we were like, ‘Oh my God’. Then we went to Sheffield, and he did 1,500 – travelling to Sheffield. We did Ally Pally [in London], and he did nearly 2,000 on his own. This Saturday he’s done 3,000 tickets on his own – out of hand.
“Anyone that does over 300, 400 tickets is a big ticket seller, so they get your attention straight away. But this is kind of unexplainable. I’ve never seen anything like this before.
“The biggest ticket sellers in the country, really – personal ticket sales; personal ticket sales – are Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington. They’re probably the two standouts. Jack Catterall, maybe. These are guys that do 1,500, 2,000 tickets, but these are guys that have fought for undisputed championships; world championships. Johnny’s only been in area title fights. That’s the astonishing thing about what we’re seeing.
“We will have between 6,000-7,000 at the Copper Box for this. If he fights David Adeleye for the English title, we’ll be doing over 10,000 at The O2. If he fights Frazer Clarke or Fabio Wardley for the British title, he sells out the whole thing.”
Hearn was asked to attempt to define Fisher’s appeal – the heavyweight has stopped 10 of 11 mostly lightly-regarded opponents – and he said: “Boy or man next-door. Feet on the ground. Good family. Funny. They’ve got the [bosh] strap line, of course. The dad [John] is out there. I don’t know. It’s just caught fire, and it’s never been put out.”
Ricky Hatton once became perhaps Britain’s most popular ever fighter from the platform of, not unlike Fisher, his everyman appeal and popularity surpassing his achievements in his career’s earliest days. The marketable Frank Buglioni, in contrast, once had a level of popularity early in his career and upwards trajectory that he never truly recovered once he lost for the first time, to the little-known Siarhei Khamitski. The fan bases and domestic rivals of Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood made it inevitable that they would challenge for world titles off the back of their ongoing improvement as fighters – it is also relevant that, unlike Fisher, in Leeds and Nottingham they represent smaller cities – but Newcastle’s Lewis Ritson was given opportunities his ticket-selling ability demanded, and ultimately never pushed on.
“If you get beat, it’s a total disaster, because the ceiling is so high,” Hearn continued. “But I actually think that he’s not just a ticket seller. He can really fight, and he’s actually a really good, young heavyweight prospect. You’ve got to match him right.
“There’s obviously the greater fear factor of him losing, because of the draw that he is, but I will say this – this draw of him being a ticket seller has now extended to digital numbers, and particularly TV viewing figures on the platform. This show’s going to do very well on Saturday. We know the interest in the fight; we know the ticket sales. People are talking about the fight; we’re doing a lot of media; there’s a lot of coverage around the fight. It will actually rate really well, and Johnny’s tickets are brilliant, and that’s fantastic, but our job is to drive the viewership, and the profile, and it’s all going really well.
“Part of the story, and part of the attraction, is the crowd that he brings, and the atmosphere that he generates in the venue. Warrington was a slow build. This is the thing with Johnny – he’s doing 2,000 and 3,000 tickets for six and eight-round fights. Warrington, and [Leigh] Wood were doing that for unifications and world championship fights. When they started they were doing 200; 300. This is where this has never been seen before.
“If you’re in a world championship fight and you’re selling 200 tickets, it’s a disaster, really, and that happens, because fighters don’t push themselves on the way up; they never build the fan base. Sometimes they just don’t resonate with the fan base. Most fighters will start at 200, 300, 400, and get themselves up to 1,000, 1,500 if they’re a massive ticket seller. But with Johnny, that’s coming from six rounders.
“Ritson was a massive ticket seller as well, but obviously you get to a point where he won the Lonsdale Belt outright, and the next step up is the European title. He got beat – once you get beat, it affects the ticket sales. You get beat again, it really affects ticket sales. You get beat three times, it’s almost over.
“[Selling tickets remains] very important, because fighters command – and sometimes deserve – more, but how you establish the purse of a fighter is through the numbers they drive on the TV platform, and particularly, the numbers they drive through the gate. If Johnny Fisher’s selling 3,000 tickets and the average ticket price is £50-£60, you’re talking about £150,000 worth of tickets that he’s selling, and revenue that he’s bringing to the show alone.”
On Wednesday, Hearn spoke of plans to potentially match the winner of Jack Catterall-Regis Prograis with Liam Paro on a fight night in Australia. On Thursday, he revealed the extent to which Paro dethroning Subriel Matias as the IBF junior-welterweight champion had become key to the business plans of Matchroom and DAZN.
Not unlike with Essex’s Fisher fighting in east London on Saturday evening, Matchroom’s geographical approach to promotion demands that they showcase their leading fighters in their home territories. It is why Paro had to travel to Puerto Rico to defeat Matias, why Prograis’ first fight under Matchroom was his first for five years in New Orleans, and why a week after Fisher-Babic, Jaron “Boots” Ennis will make the first defense of his IBF welterweight title in Philadelphia – the deprived fight city with one of the finest boxing histories of all.
When Paro makes that first defence of his title, in Brisbane or Sydney, Fisher could even be given a prominent position on the undercard. His use of social media – an increasingly effective way to market fighters but one that doesn’t necessarily translate to successful ticket sales – means that he has a similarly “unexplainable” appeal on, literally, the other side of the world.
“He’s massive in Australia,” Hearn explained. “He went there, and thousands of people were turning up to see him. So we’re probably going to box him in Australia next [on the Paro undercard]. People are telling me that he would sell out Australian arenas alone.
(While in Australia in December 2023, partly on account of a London accent, BoxingScene was asked by a local not about Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua but about Johnny Fisher, who had come to that local’s attention on Instagram)
“He’s become smart [on social media], but at first it was just raw. He’s just very normal. Very working class; quality people; quality family; everybody can relate. It’s got smarter, the way that they’re using it. The brothers are involved – they’re quite smart kids as well. The dad’s doing appearances. It’s all over the world – it’s out of control.
“We’re looking for a great atmosphere; a great performance from Johnny, and we know that he’ll keep getting bigger and bigger.”
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