Heavyweight Johnny Fisher’s dad, ‘Big’ John Fisher, confronted journalist Gareth A. Davies today to give him a tongue-lashing for supposedly calling Johnny’s 10-round split decision win over Dave Allen a ‘robbery’ from their Undercard fight last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Safe Place Needed
This was hilarious to watch from Big John reading Gareth the Riot Act. It was like watching the comic Groucho Marx say, ‘Never darken my towels again.’
‘Big’ John took issue with how Gareth characterized Johnny’s win, which many boxing fans felt was controversial due to how Allen took control of the fight from the fifth round. Fans were calling it a robbery left and right and feeling that Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs) should have won a clear decision.
Allen dropped the inexperienced 25-year-old Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) in round five and hurt him in every round from that point on. It looked like a pretty easy fight to score, but the judges made a mess of it, with two of them scoring it for Fisher. I watched it and had Allen winning the last six rounds.
Promoter Eddie Hearn made a mistake by sticking a novice with just 31 rounds under his belt as a pro in with Dave Allen. In hindsight, that was a bad move.
Fisher looked like he was doing well in the tenth but then got stunned and had to hold. That took away whatever positive things Fisher was doing in the round. That straight arm that he was against should have resulted in warnings or penalization. He got away with it the entire fight.
The scores
95-94: Fisher
96-93: Allen
95-94: Fisher
Papa Bear Mode
Big John Fisher: “I totally respect anyone’s opinion that thought that Dave won the fight, but the way you and Spencer went over the top. I thought you were serious journalists. You showed how incapable you are of reporting on 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 watched it back. He won round one to four. Round ten and round seven, you could have counted it to Johnny. So, for you to call it a robbery and disgusting. Gareth, you were welcome in my house before. You’ll never be welcome in my house again because the way you act is a complete, utter disgrace.
“Alright, 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 shouting out things like that. I’ve lost all respect for you. People used to tell me, ‘Don’t respect Gareth Davies.’ I’ve lost all respect.”
Gareth: “That’s fine. You can go on and have your dinner, and we’ll get on with the interview. Thanks, John.”
Big John: “Never come up to me again, and never ask for my advice ever again.”
Gareth: “I don’t need your advice.”
Big John: “You do, sir, because you haven’t got a clue. 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 carry on with the interview because John doesn’t want to talk about things. He’s just angry.”
