Johnny Fisher’s new trainer Tony Sims is demanding patience for the young heavyweight.
The 26 year old lost for the time when in May he was stopped by David Allen, six months after recovering from being knocked down for the first time by the same opponent on an evening when he was awarded a controversial split decision.
He has since separated from Mark Tibbs and recruited Sims to help him to rebuild, and, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn, he will return to the ring in November or December after Sims’ methods have had a chance to have an influence.
Sims – who helped to rebuild the careers of, among others, John Ryder and Kevin Mitchell after they suffered defeats – has identified in Fisher a need to improve his ability to fight on the inside. Ryder, who in retirement has become his assistant trainer, is perhaps among the modern era’s finest exponents of the skill of fighting on the inside. Sims, who guided Anthony Joshua to the IBF heavyweight title and more recently worked with Australia’s Demsey McKean, also highlighted the reality of the combination of Fisher’s youth and inexperience, and he told BoxingScene: “He’s still got the potential he had. One loss as a heavyweight ain’t gonna determine your future. Derek Chisora’s probably shown that time and again – even at 41 he’s still having wins you never would have thought he’d have. I just think he needs to get some opponents he can learn from; do the stuff we’re doing in the gym, and keep learning and getting experience. I just don’t think there’s any rush with him; I don’t really understand the rush with him. Even four years away, when he’s 30, he’s still a young heavyweight. I don’t think there’s any rush with him at all.
“He needs a couple of fights to get back into it and see what’s going from there, really. Just build him – build his confidence, let him work on inside work, which he needs to know and needs to sort out, and keep building as a heavyweight as well. Keep his strength and conditioning going; keep building, because he could be a handful. He has got fast hands for a heavyweight, and he can punch, and they’re the two main assets that a heavyweight needs.
“He’s really young, as a heavyweight – really young. He’s 26, which is a baby in heavyweight terms. He was a novice as well before he turned pro – he actually come to the gym to spar, and he looked like he’d never had a pair of gloves on. A raw novice.
“He’s had a lot of high-profile fights very quickly, for his experience. I wouldn’t have took the second Dave Allen fight. I know it’s alright to say that in hindsight, but I think it was more pride, him wanting to take that, because of the controversy of the first fight. I said to him, ‘You can’t really worry about what other people think, because that’s what you’re doing – worrying about what the public think about you. You had the win over him, and it was a good win, because Dave Allen’s a good fighter, and the controversy that surrounded that, in a year’s time… people forget’. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that. I would never have agreed to that fight. He wanted to do that fight, and said to me he wanted to do it out of pride, so he’s got to rebuild from there.
“I’d like to see him get back in the ring, have a couple of warm-up fights, and then get back into the mix again. He’s a decent fighter; he can punch; he trains hard; he’s very athletic. But he does need to learn a lot. His inside work – he don’t really know how to fight on the inside. When Dave Allen was walking him down he was trying to long-range punch him, and you need to be able to sit there at times and fight on the inside, and he don’t know how to do that. That’s a lot of teaching, that is. I’ve been putting a lot of time into him, one to ones – doing a lot of teaching with him rather than through training rituals. “
Fisher’s arrival at the Matchroom Gym in Essex continues the transformation of those at his gym and under his guidance since Ryder’s retirement after the defeat by Jaime Munguia in January 2024.
Where then there remained Ryder, the then-IBF junior-lightweight champion Joe Cordina and Felix Cash, there is instead Fisher and Craig Richards, and the British middleweight championship challenger George Liddard preparing to fight for his first title, and Sims said: “My whole career, I see the turnovers all the time. There was a time when I first had Darren Barker and he was the youngest kid in the gym. I never forget him saying to me, ‘I’m the youngest kid in here’ – he was 19 when he first come to me, and then Darren become the oldest. That’s how it goes. I remember having Kevin Mitchell; Lee Purdy, and then Conor Benn was the youngest. [Joe] Cordina, Ted Cheeseman and Felix Cash was all older than him. Now Conor’s the most experienced one in the gym. That’s how it goes. One day it’ll be Jimmy Sains and George Liddard will be the oldest. It turns around all the time.
“He has got power, Johnny. He’s definitely got power. I was out in Vegas and he boxed on a Conor Been undercard [when defeating Dmytro Bezus in 2024]. He showed this raw power and speed that night; I thought he done really well against quite a decent opponent, and I think he blew him away in two rounds, so he has got that about him. I think he needs to be an aggressive fighter as well – more aggressive. Learning more to fight on the inside; being able to stay there. He needs to be that sort of fighter. Training-wise as well, he’s athletic, and he likes to train, so that’s another good thing, ‘cause a lot of them heavyweights aren’t the most athletic, and can be lazy. He’s got that about him; he’s got a lot of assets about him to do well in this game. There’s no rush, do you know what I mean? At his age there’s absolutely no rush.
“I’ve worked with a few heavyweights, but a lot of them are lazy and don’t want to do nothing, so it kind of bores me. But when you get an athletic one that enjoys training, it puts a different emphasis on training them, really. He really wants to learn as well. When the fighter wants to learn it puts more into what you want to do with them. If someone wants to learn, it gives me more determination to make them a better fighter. So I’m enjoying working with him. On top of that, he’s a really nice guy, Johnny – I’ve known him a long time. He lives around the corner from the gym. It’ll be a good partnership, me and him.”
Asked about Cordina’s move to work with his fellow Welshman Gary Lockett in Cardiff and the victory over Mexico’s Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz that re-established him as a contender at lightweight, Sims then responded: “I actually advised him to go to Gary, ‘cause I said to him, ‘It’s near your home – you can’t get no nearer to your home, you’ve got three kids’. I know Joe thinks he needs to be away from home, but you don’t, as long as you’re getting your rest. I think he’ll be more settled down there.
“When he was up here, because you’re waiting for dates, you’re spending a lot of money getting your food in, renting a place and travelling. When you’re waiting for a date you’re frustrated. When you’re waiting for a date at home, you ain’t lashing out on all the money. I thought it was a sensible move, and Gary not only was a good fighter, but a great trainer as well. The latter stages of Joe’s career – he’s 33 – it’s a better move for him to be there than up this way.”
