About Joel Fisher
Joel Fisher, Executive Vice President of Marquee Events & Operations at Madison Square Garden Sports, has been involved with the venue for over 38 years. In 2022, he described the fight between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor as "historic for women's boxing and for boxing in general," noting that the atmosphere was "absolutely electric." He stated that the Garden has "always prided ourselves on being the mecca of boxing" and that the venue is selective about the fights it hosts, aiming to do "the biggest and best fights" that will sell out. Fisher also commented on a unification fight between Arthur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr., calling it a "50-50 fight" and predicting it would be "another great night of boxing."
In earlier appearances, Fisher emphasized the Garden's status as "the center of boxing," asserting that fighters "don't feel that they've made it unless they've fought at Madison Square Garden." He discussed the venue's selectivity in choosing events, stating, "We will not just do a fight just to have a fight." In 2013, Fisher presented Miguel Cotto with a commemorative plaque for selling over 100,000 tickets across eight fights at the Garden, calling the milestone "an amazing number." He also highlighted the venue's renovations, describing the transformed building as "a hall of fame" that celebrates its history.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Joel Fisher's recent appearances.
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Transcript (9 segments)
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Joel Fisher0:00
I think they decided that for him to be considered one of the best fighters in the world, which he is, and to get the popularity beyond just the West Coast, it made sense for them to come to New York, the East Coast. And of course, the only place that he could fight in New York on the East Coast is Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of boxing. So you know you're not intimidated by anybody else like the Barclays or Las Vegas or anybody. Everything else does a great job. We are the center of boxing. Boxers say that they know they've made it when they're fighting in Madison Square Garden. So we do big, big fights. We just had the Lomachenko fight last weekend, which was a great fight. Hello, the biggest star of boxing we have this weekend. So two weekends back-to-back, we have two of the biggest stars, if the two biggest stars in boxing.
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Interviewer0:53
Yeah indeed, but they're about fighting. It almost seems like you guys are in the driver's seat, man. You're representing the world's most famous arena. Like you mentioned, everybody wants to fight. So are you selective with these boxing events at the Garden?
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Joel Fisher1:06
We're absolutely selective. We will not just do a fight just to have a fight and say we had a fight. We want to do the biggest and best fights in the world, and we've proven that. We've had in our history the biggest and most famous fighters in the history of the sport fight at Madison Square Garden. And Canelo is just the next one in that line. So we're extremely excited that he chose Madison Square Garden for his next fight. It's going to be a great night, a historic night, and I'm sure he'll be so enamored with the experience he's going to have that they don't want to come back to New York. OK, ticket sales are going pretty good. I think ticket sales are going extremely well.
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Interviewer1:54
What's your dream fight for 2019 at Madison Square Garden?
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Joel Fisher2:00
I've been doing this for a long time. I've been at the Garden for 32 years. Been doing this for a long time. The Garden is just a great place to work. What's my dream? What's our dream fight? I mean, we'd love to see the Canelo-Golovkin rematch. That would be great. What would that take? You'd have to talk to the promoters about that one, but that would be a great fight. Lomachenko, get him back against a great opponent like a monkey? See here some like a faint? And you know, obviously up for Canelo-Triple G. You know, Vegas is going to go hard, and Jamie's going to go hard. You're going to have a little bit of a battle. Are you ready to battle for that fight?
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Interviewer2:42
We're always ready, ready to battle for a fight, but they also have to want to be in New York and understand the benefits of fighting at the Garden and in New York. Well, we're excited about this fight. I mean, New York is excited about seeing Canelo. So thanks for putting this show down, helping them make it happen. And we look for the senior preesh. They're thrilled to have you. Go, what's the greatest city in the world? New York City, of course. No better city in the world than New York City. And what's the greatest venue? Madison Square Garden, the world's most famous arena. Madison Square Garden is the most historic venue in the world.
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Joel Fisher3:18
Madison Square Garden is the most historic venue in the world. We opened in 1879, and we have had... that's what you started. But we've had, as you guys know, the most historic events in both sports, entertainment, music, boxing, you name it. The most historic events have taken place in Madison Square Garden: Republican National Conventions, Democratic National Convention, Pope visits, and the list goes on and on. Of all the things we've done, there's no better venue than Madison Square Garden. How can we get some Mexicans mad at little Anthony? It does have to be on a focal. Nick's tickets are tough to get. We're sold out all the time. The next is going to be a winner again soon, what century? Mixers on the right path. I'm mad, and we have great management, great ownership. Nobody wants to win more than our management and ownership. We're on the right path. We're following that path. Then you're going to see a great team in the near future.
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Interviewer4:20
I grew up a huge Knicks fan. I'm just teasing you. But listen, Joel Fisher, folks, bossman at the Garden is making these fights really happen. Thanks again.
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Joel Fisher4:29
Thank you. Thank you, brother.
