Rising heavyweight prospect Johnny Fisher looked set to continue a breakthrough year later this month as he geared up for a second main-event clash in as many fights. However, ‘The Romford Bull’ has been forced to withdraw from the contest and he has now opened up on the reason why.
Fisher needed just one round to halt Alen Babic in their headline fight at the Copper Box Arena in July in a statement win and the Southern Area heavyweight champion was hoping to build upon this victory, as he was scheduled to collide with well-respected Ukrainian contender Andrii Rudenko on the Catterall-Prograis undercard.
Yet, Jack Catterall’s super-lightweight showdown was postponed until late October and Fisher instead opted to move his bout to the undercard of another 140lb main-event in Dalton Smith’s Sheffield scrap with Jon Fernandez – which was later cancelled due to an injury to Smith.
Instead of further delaying the Rudenko fight, Fisher-Rudenko was made the main attraction, and the September 28th show was moved to the Copper Box Arena in London, until Fisher picked up an injury himself.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Fisher explained that whilst his injury is a serious one, it could have been worse and he still expects to fight before the end of 2024.
“It is gutting, you do immediately think about the fans and the people that are travelling. We have messed them about so much, it is through no fault of our own, but you do think about that. When I first heard the news, I was very concerned that the bicep was in a bad place, but I had an ultrasound scan to follow up the two MRI’s and it is not as deadly as they first thought in terms of the bicep having to come apart.
“It is a long tear, but it is quite close together, so without surgery it should heal. I have got to do it all properly, but these things happen for a reason. Something was telling me that this fight just wasn’t meant to be, and I am doing the right thing, I am healing it up.
“It is bad. It is a tear of the bicep muscle itself rather than the tendon. The doctor was saying that the surgery where you re-attach the tendon is an easy fix but if you tear all of the way through the muscle and you try and fuse muscle back together it can’t work sometimes, and it can take one-and-a-half to two years.
“So, I am very, very lucky. This is looking like I can be out by the end of the year.”
Despite the numerous hurdles, Matchroom will still stage an event on September 28th as Rhiannon Dixon and Terri Harper go toe-to-toe in the main attraction at the Park Community Arena back in Sheffield, topping a bill that features rising stars such as Peter McGrail, Cameron Vuong and George Liddard.
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