Johnny Fisher had a short ten-fight stint in the amateurs, so gaining experience through world-class sparring has been invaluable for his development.
‘The Romford Bull’ has exchanged leather with the likes of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois on his rise through the ranks.
And he was under no illusion who hit him the hardest.
“[Dubois] He can whack, he can seriously punch,” Fisher told the Take A Seat Podcast.
“He’s the hardest I have been punched by ever and his jab is like a right hand when it hits you.
“It is unbelievable power. He hits you like an absolute horse.”
But when it came to the most technically gifted boxer he has shared the ring with, Fisher didn’t choose any of the aforementioned heavyweights.
“He’s beaten Fillip Hrgovic who I was sparring in Texas, who’s probably the most technically gifted fighter I’ve ever been in with,” added the 12-0 pro.
It wasn’t a throwaway comment either, Fisher re-iterated the point during another interview with Boxing News.
“Really good sparring with Filip Hrgovic, among the best sparring one on one sparring I have had,” he said.
“The best I have ever sparred one on one. I have sparred with Fury, and I’ve sparred with a couple of other guys but to see one man on your own for four to six rounds, Filip is by far the best I have ever sparred…
“It’s the ability to read what you do, the punch output. If I duck one way too many times he will pick up on it straight away, the intensity, the aggression.”
Hrgovic certainly has a decent boxing pedigree behind him.
The Croatian puncher picked up an Olympic bronze medal at Rio 2016 and proved he is worthy of dining at the top table in the pros by beating Zhilei Zhang.
Heading into his fight with Dubois in June, he was on the verge of a world title shot and ranked No.5 in the world by Ring Magazine.
But ‘Triple D’ crushed Hrgovic’s dreams with an eighth-round doctors’ stoppage after opening two big gashes above both of ‘El Animal’s’ eyes.
It marked the first defeat of Hrgovic’s professional career and he hasn’t returned to the ring since.
