Johnny Fisher reveals how he told Eddie Hearn he was joining Zuffa for EIGHT times the money after Conor Benn drama

JOHNNY FISHER made sure he handled things the right way when departing Matchroom Boxing to sign with Zuffa. Conor Benn and Eddie Hearn had a very public, acrimonious split when the welterweight made the same move back in February. Johnny Fisher is 14-1 at the moment with a sole loss to Dave Allen Credit: Getty He has been promoted by Eddie Hearn his entire career, until now Credit: Getty Fisher has signed a one-fight deal with the Dana White-led promotion, but he made sure to keep the lines of communication open every step of the way. SunSport caught up with the Romford Bull to discuss his move and how it came to be. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! First off, why make the move to Zuffa? “Yeah, well, obviously a fantastic deal, being with Zuffa, financial deal, I’m not gonna make no bones about that, but being a promotional tool of Sky Sports and being used by them, it’s a fantastic thing for me and my family. “Obviously the home of football, the cricket‘s on there – which I love – rugby, the British and Irish Lions are gonna be on there. Back in the day, when you think of sort of the AJ days, Tony Bellew, David Haye, Derek Chisora, Dillain Whyte; they’ve been a huge, huge, platform for heavyweight boxing over the years, so fantastic for me. Sometimes, athletes are almost shamed for taking the money. But that’s the goal, isn’t it? Boxers shouldn’t feel bad about chasing money. “I don’t think so at all. I mean, I was talking to a bloke in Sainsbury’s a couple of weeks ago and he said, ‘You’re not gonna go Zuffa are you, John?’ I said to him ‘so if Tesco came along and offered you eight times the money to go and work for them, would you do it or would you not? And he was like ‘well, yeah, actually, you’re probably right.’ So yeah, no one should be ashamed of trying to earn a living and earn their money, as long as they do everything in the correct way and do it open and honestly and let everyone know. That’s the aim of the game, isn’t it? Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK His dad, John Fisher, also known as ‘Big John’ is just as big of a star Credit: Getty “I’m getting punched in the face repeatedly, and the ribs and the stomach as well, and I want to be remunerated properly for what I do and it means that I can do more things for the community as well. “Like yesterday we’ve done some stuff for Haven House Children’s Hospice. Also Chatty Boxx, who help non-verbal children, so yeah, it’s a great thing all round what we’re doing, so I’m excited for the future and thank you to Zuffa and Sky for allowing this to happen.” So how did the wheels get turning on the move? “So I think back to sort of March, April time, I was trying to get with the fight with TKV [Jeamie Tshikeva ] for the British title and it was done. Then it was between the promoters in Eddie [Hearn] and [Ben] Shalom on who’s going to put the fight on. “The managers had agreed all of the fight, but it was about whether it was gonna be on BBC at that point or the DAZN. Then that all fell through for whatever reason, and then it was offered to be on the Fury vs Makhmudov card. “I’d already mentally sort of checked out after it being on and off three or four times, so that did not happen. “By that time now, it’s April/May time, and the [Matchroom] contract’s running out, so then Eddie has put some very, very good offers to me, talking about this sort of route, if we want to fight these opponents, if we wanna fight this level of opponent, but I thought I was worth a little bit more than what Eddie was offering me. “So, I went and met with Eddie at the office. We spoke openly in a business way. Eddie’s my friend, so we can talk like that. “I just thought I’m worth a little bit more, so I’m gonna hear what the market has got to offer. “And, that’s not great news for someone to hear if you’re trying to make a deal, but it’s the truth, so you’ve got to speak the truth. “A few weeks later, or a week or two later, Zuffa came through with a fantastic offer. I rang Eddie up straight away and, and spoke to him. “I’ve been speaking to him throughout the whole process and, yeah, he didn’t want to match it, so that’s fair enough. It was a fantastic offer. The 27-year-old has done well to bounce back from his only pro loss to Dave Allen Credit: Getty Johnny Fisher & Dad Big John have a combined social following of over 1.5 million Credit: Jamie McPhilimey “I actually spoke to Barry as well on Friday night; I speak to Barry a lot. He’s been a great mentor to me over the last two or three years, and he said: ‘Johnny, you’ve done it exactly the right way, can’t moan at how, you’ve handled it, and, it’s a fantastic offer. We’ve done our job in that way’. “So, yeah, I’m just happy that I’m on good terms with Matchroom because they’ve been terrific for me throughout my career. For the last five years, we’ve had some great memories and my relationship with Barry and Eddie will not ever change or falter because they’re good people and they always will be to me. Did you learn lessons from the way Conor Benn left Matchroom for Zuffa “When I was talking to Eddie about this, it was actually being filmed by Paramount Plus, who were doing a TV program on our family, and I said to Eddie in that meeting, look, I’m not privy to what has happened with the Conor Benn situation. “He’s in my gym, but I don’t see him that often, I’ll see him for five minutes here, 10 minutes there. And Eddie will have his side of the story, Conor Benn will have his side of the story. All of us in the middle are just guessing what the actual truth is. “Did Conor give Eddie the phone call that might have just smoothed it all over or had a bit of contact? Maybe he could have, I don’t know. I don’t know what the truth of the matter was, but all I know is the way I handle business, and it’s completely separate and a different level of financials and a different commercial value. “I’m on a, a level far below what Conor Benn is in terms of commercial value. My way of handling it is just go and meet Eddie. We can’t mess it up that way. “I think with all the stuff that was being said about Conor’s situation, whether it’s true or not, I just wanted to make sure I go there and you talk openly and honestly. Fisher insists he and Hearn will remain friends Credit: Getty But the same can’t be said for Hearn and Benn right now Credit: Getty “It’s a bit of an awkward one sometimes because you are talking about money, you’re talking about business, but you’ve got to hash it out. “It’s more awkward just to let it stew and fester in the back of your brain. Conor’s situation is separate to mine, different to mine; different parameters and context. For me, I’ve handled my business as best I think to see fit.” What’s the plans while fighting under Zuffa? Are you still aiming for the British heavyweight title? “So this is a one-fight deal, which I think is the way that I have to go by my career now. Because every fight can be your last, the most important one is the next one. And I’ve got to impress on this one, and then that puts me in an even better position moving forward. “Richard Riakporhe’s got the British [heavyweight title] at the minute. I’ve actually spoken to him about a month or two ago when we were doing some work with The Sun, and, I said, look, is that a fight right now that I’m ready for? Probably not. “He’s probably a little step above me. I’ve probably got a 30-35% chance of landing a big bomb on Riakporhe, but he’s a top 10 ranked world heavyweight now, so I’ve got to earn my right to get back to that position. “So, of course the British title’s on my radar. Fighting TKV for it would have been a great opportunity where I’ve got a 50/50 chance of winning it, but right now, I was being offered before this deal came through, Eddie was trying to get me on the AJ undercard. “He was offering me opponents who were like a 20 wins and 1 loss or a 19 wins and 1 loss, and that’s sort of the level of opponent we’re gonna be going for, you know. Someone who’s gonna give me something to think about. “I think I’m gonna surprise a lot of people with what I’ve learnt and what I’ve improved on in the gym with Tony Sims, and I really do think I could be challenging for British titles in the very near future, and then going on a run and seeing where that takes me.” And how has it been linking up with Tony Sims, are you heading towards another level? “It’s quite grueling if I’m being honest, a lot of it. When I first went with Tony back in August last year, just shadowboxing for half an hour, 40 minutes, and where my feet are gonna be and stuff, I was sweating and it was so hard from a mental perspective, just embedding that into your brain. “But that sort of process has taken place now, and it’s now more about tactics and ring craft, where I’m moving in the ring, where I’m holding my hands and my feet, but how you’re gonna have ring generalship. There’s a lot of thought that goes behind it, and it’s becoming second nature now.” Johnny Fisher’s Zuffa debut is set for September 26 at the Copperbox Arena live on Sky Sports with his opponent set to be announced in the coming weeks. Comment now