Alen Babic: Is He Johnny Fisher's Biggest Test So Far?
By Cameron Black
Highly touted British heavyweight Johnny Fisher takes on Alen Babic this weekend at the Copper Box Arena in London, with Babic being regarded as the toughest challenge to date for "The Romford Bull."
Both men are well known for not going the full twelve rounds, with only two decisions out of 23 fights between them. To say this could be a barnburner is an understatement, what encapsulates this fight so well is the similarities in style and their personalities too, Fisher and Babic both have gung-ho approaches that is evident with their sheer amount of knockouts without even having fifteen fights each yet.
Fisher has risen to stardom in the past few years, in the ring you commonly see him dispatching his opponents with relative ease, and outside the ring, you will find him tucking into an incessant amount of Chinese takeaway with his father, who typically just goes by "Big John." Whilst his exploits in the ring have undoubtedly caught the eyes of many in the boxing world, you can't deny the impact that him and his family's social media has had on his image.
As we often see now in the modern fighting age, personality does wonders if it can be used appropriately. "The Romford Bull's" army of fans, many from the Essex area, are a clear example of the support he has garnered so far. With a reported 3000 tickets already sold for Saturday's headliner, expect plenty of noise in favour of Fisher.
In just eleven fights, Fisher has displayed considerable improvements in his game since his first professional win over Matt Gordon in 2021. The beginning was a raw and aggressive power puncher, with clear intentions to end the fight, as seen by four knockouts in a row until Gabriel Enguema took him a full six rounds. Enguema gave Fisher his first real adversity, cutting him in the first round over the left eye. Perhaps Fisher came away from the fight disappointed and in need of improvement. By no means is going the distance a negative so early into a boxing career, but Fisher clearly wanted to add something that wasn't quite available in the skillset.
Since that first decision victory, Fisher has been rampant and not gone the distance again, displaying a steady sign of improvement, less intent on swinging for the fences, there seems to be more of a focus on dictating the pace and using that jab to ultimately turn the fight in his favour. Basics such as cutting the ring off and maintaining a high work rate have come to fruition recently, an obvious testament to a fighter who is consistently improving in the gym to become even more of a force in the heavyweight division. There have been no drastic changes though, with the "Romford Bull" still more than happy to flex his athletic prowess when he unleashes those brutal combinations.
With significant improvements come better opponents, and in Alen Babic comes a difficult test. Whilst Babic is by no means the best of the best, he offers an intensity and willingness to come forward and make it a brawl. Like Fisher, Babic has a knack for aggression and uses it relentlessly to his advantage. With his only blemish coming in a defeat to Lukasz Rozanksi in the bridgerweight division, Babic has all the more reason to prove that it was merely just a shortcoming at that moment. The fight itself feels something of a litmus test for Fisher, he's certainly shown can compete at heavyweight, but will the bruising Babic stop his ascendency?
When we break the fight down on a deeper level, we can attest that Fisher must not get dragged into a dogfight, which is where Babic excels, although we have seen his vulnerabilities present on such occasions. If Fisher intends to continue his unbeaten career, then it is imperative to portray these new skills he has learnt in such a short timescale.
Specifically, the jab, keeping Babic at arm's length and nullifying his blitzes, will go a long way if he is to achieve success. Doing this will allow him to dictate the pace of the fight to his liking and potentially open up holes in Babic's armour that can be exposed by the tenacious Brit.
Babic must also understand the importance of staying loose and throwing variety in order to keep Fisher guessing. Going in blind and giving Fisher any sign to pull the trigger could cause some serious problems for the Croatian.
Irrespective of the result, we can most definitely have some intense action when we look at the resumes of both men. A knockout from either party would almost certainly be a safe bet.
But will it be another surging win for the "Romford Bull" or will Babic steal the show and cause an upset? Find out on Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena live on DAZN.
Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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