Tony Sims says the main focus of training heavyweight Johnny Fisher is “technical work.”
Fisher recently parted ways with long-term trainer Mark Tibbs to join the Sims stable, and Fisher is 13-1 (11 KOs), coming off the first loss of his career a fifth-round stoppage to the resurgent Dave Allen.
Fisher is due out on Matchroom’s annual Monaco bill later this year, and the team are hoping to move Fisher toward a British title shot.
“He’s been down here a few weeks now, just going through a lot of technical work together,” said Sims. “Obviously, Johnny, he’ll tell you himself, he’s not had no obviously amateur experience. So he’s still got a lot to work on but Mark and Jimmy Tibbs have done a wonderful job. I remember Johnny came down to my gym when he was a teenager and he was just a raw fellow off the street. So they’ve done an unbelievable job. He’s still got a lot of technical work to do, which we’ve been doing. He’s not fighting till December, which gives us a bit of time to gel together.”
Fisher has recently been in the US, visiting gyms for sparring and building experience behind closed doors.
There were planned stops at the Wild Card and the Salas gym.
“Everyone knows Johnny’s a nice kid, but he’s still a baby in heavyweight terms,” added Sims. “He’s 26 years old, so he’s still a kid. He’s got a lot to learn. His ambition is to win a British title. We’re working towards that. He’s definitely capable of winning a British title. I believe that he technically obviously needs to know more, which we’re working on, but he’s got the ability to win a British title. He can punch. He’s very athletic and he trains hard. It’s just like obviously his experience and his knowledge, he needs to further that.”
The fact that Fisher earned a first in his university degree also gives Sims confidence.
“It takes some doing,” said the coach. “So he knows about learning, getting knowledge and then getting to that place and that time when you have to produce that.
And he understands that and that’s the path he's on at the moment. I think the British title, probably some time next year. I think he's capable of doing that.”
