Heavyweight Johnny Fisher’s father, “Big” John Fisher, today confronted reporter Gareth A. Davies for giving him a tongue lashing for allegedly calling Johnny’s 10 round split decision win over Dave Allen a “stolen” from his Undercard fight on Saturday night. the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Controversial decision
“Big” John took issue with how Gareth characterized Johnny’s victory, which many boxing fans thought was controversial because Allen took control of the fight from the fifth round. Fans were calling it a steal left and right and felt that Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs) should win a clear decision.
Allen dropped the inexperienced 25-year-old Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) in the fifth round and hurt him in every round from that point. It looked like an easy enough fight to score, but the judges made a mess, with two of them scoring for Fisher. I watched it and had Allen winning the last six rounds.
Promoter Eddie Hearn made a mistake by attacking a novice with only 31 rounds under his belt as a pro with Dave Allen. In retrospect, it was a bad move.
Fisher looked to be doing well in the tenth, but then got stunned and had to hold. That took all the positive things that Fisher was doing in the round. That right arm he was against should have resulted in warnings or penalties. He escaped the whole fight.
The scores
95-94: Fisher
96-93: Allen
95-94: Fisher
Papa Bear mode
Big John Fisher: “Totally respect the opinion of anyone who thought Dave won the fight, but the way you and Spencer went about it. I thought you were serious reporters. You showed how incapable you are of reporting a proper fight,” said John to iFL TV.
Gareth A. Davies: “Did Johnny win the fight, John?”
Big John: “Yeah, he won the fight. I looked at him again. He won rounds one through four. Round ten and round seven, you could have told Johnny. So, for you to call a thief and disgusting. You were welcome in my house before. You will never be welcome in my house again because the way you act is a complete disgrace.
“Okay, I’ll tell you to your face because I’m a man. I’m not holding back. Anyone can say Dave won the fight. Dave’s team, themselves, said it wasn’t a robbery, and you’re yelling stuff like that . I lost all respect for you. People were saying, ‘You don’t respect Gareth Davies.’
Gareth: “Okay. You can continue to have dinner, and we’ll go to the interview. Thank you, John.”
Big John: “Never come to me again, and never ask my advice again.”
Gareth: “I don’t need your advice.”
Big John: “You do, sir, because you have no idea. When I see you, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you to your face. Merry Christmas to you, GAD.”
Gareth: “Merry Christmas. Let’s continue with the interview because John doesn’t want to talk about things. He’s just angry.”
