The Romford Bull, the Tartan Tornado and the insanity of online pile-ons

There are many things that trouble me about the modern world. The widening gap between the rich and the poor. The fact that everything is offensive to someone. Technocratic hubris. I could go on.

One of my biggest bugbears however is the inevitable online pile-on that ensues after a fighter loses a big fight.

On consecutive Saturdays on DAZN the main event has resulted in an upset. Johnny Fisher was a warm betting favourite going into his rematch with Dave Allen while Josh Taylor was also fancied by most observers to be too good for Ekow Essuman.

• Read next | Wilder, Clarke, Adeleye: Who could Dave Allen face in blockbuster bout after Matchroom deal?

Both fights were exciting and competitive - as main events should be – but the reaction online after Fisher and Taylor lost left a lot to be desired.

Indeed, the Internet vultures were circling before Fisher had even left the ring following his TKO loss in round five at the Copper Box.

The naysayers were saying Fisher was never any good and that it was poor matchmaking to throw him in with a gnarled veteran like Allen. These people were not saying anything of the sort when the first fight between the pair was signed for Saudi Arabia in the latter half of 2024.

It’s easy to look back after an event and be wise. We’ve all probably done it at some point in our lives. However, you cannot write a fighter off after one defeat. Let’s not forget, Bernard Hopkins and Juan Manuel Marquez both lost their first pro fights and look what they went on to achieve.

Fisher is only 26, and some perspective is needed.

For even when he cleaned out Alen Babic in 36 seconds in July 2024 to move to 12-0 there was never a sense that Matchroom were building a superstar heavyweight who would dominate at world title level.

Fisher was, and remains, a clean-living popular London fighter whose dad is social media dynamite due to his ability to eat a lot of Chinese and say the word “Bosh.”

‘The Romford Bull’ is still very much a cult hero on these shores, with a following that means he can still have a decent career if he is matched thoughtfully. Could he win the British heavyweight title? It’s not guaranteed given what we know but similarly I wouldn’t like to bet my house on him not winning the British strap at some point.

Not everyone can be world champion, and you only need to look at Allen himself for living proof that fighters can breathe new life into their careers after a tough defeat.

When ‘The White Rhino’ was being stopped in a brutal slugfest by David Price in 2019 – his fifth pro defeat – few would have predicted with a straight face that around half a decade later he would be topping a bill at the Copper Box Arena live on DAZN.

And just because Fisher may not end up with a world title, it does not mean he should abandon his sporting dreams and give his career everything over the next few years.

Then there’s Taylor, a fighter who won it all at 140 and is still the only British champion to hold all four belts at one time. ‘The Tartan Tornado' doesn't get a fraction of the credit he deserves. A remarkable fighter who became ‘Undisputed’ in just 18 fights. Who does that?

He started brilliantly against the immovable Essuman and was well ahead at halfway. However, after the final bell those online chose not to praise the tenacity and grit of Essuman to turn the tide and dig in for the win on enemy territory, but instead gleefully pointed out that Taylor is not the fighter he once was.

On the Internet, everyone is a critic — a baying takedown artist, a Poundland fistic scholar greedy for Likes and Shares. The problem with social media is that it’s like the Wild West. Too often Bluster substitutes for argument. To paraphrase Chris Eubank Sr, it is lacking in parliamentary procedure.

Maybe I am overthinking it, but surely the world would be a better place if people took a breath and thought a bit more before they posted.

'Hindsight is 20/20' is a phrase often used to describe the phenomenon of being able to see things more clearly after they have happened. It’s rife on boxing Twitter / X and other platforms.

You see you can be the ripest, juiciest, sweetest, most perfect peach on the vine - but at the end of the day there will always be people that just hate peaches.

Boxing is the ultimate sporting test. Fighters are not normal people. They should be applauded, not denigrated.

How and when a fighter walks away is something we obsess over. And it doesn’t have to be like that.

Be kind. Realise what is destroyed can still be rebuilt. What is lost can still be found.

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