MOVE over ‘Money’ Mayweather.
NIGHTCLUB boss Joe Fournier has dated heiress Paris Hilton, was school mates with Mo Farah and is a multi-millionaire.
More impressively, he’s now 11th in the WBA rankings in the light heavyweight division after turning pro in 2015 and the best British fighter on the list.
Not bad for a lad from Hammersmith, who runs superclubs around the world, including the prestigious and very private Bonbonniere in London’s exclusive Mayfair area.
But what do you need to know about the 34-year-old happy to swap the high-life for a gritty boxing gym, striking pads for fun… let SunSport introduce you to Joe…
He was born rich, but then had to live the normal life…
Joe was born into a wealthy family, attending the prestigious Lycée Français Charles De Gaulle de Londres in Kensington.
He then studied at the American Community School.
However, when his parents divorced he moved to Hounslow and had to slum it.
He changed schools, going to Ashton House primary and then Isleworth & Syon School.
It was at the latter he met his pal Mo Farah and they’ve stayed close ever since.
Fournier once said he “went from having a chauffeur driven car to school every day, to taking the bus.”
Boxing wasn’t his first love…
As good as he is in the ring, boasting 8 knockouts from his 8 professional fights, Joe could’ve been a professional basketball player.
He was so good on the court, and a natural leader, that he was chosen to captain the England basketball team 43 times.
However, a serious scaphoid injury curtailed his progress and his basketball days were soon over.
So what did he do next…
Being naturally fit, Joe decided to enter the world of personal training and set up his own gym.
He claimed he “acted as a trainer, PR and cleaner all-in-one” during this time as he grew his business.
Joe managed to bag some exclusive clients, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna.
He even trained stuntmen from the James Bond franchise as his star in the fitness world began to grow.
Joe wrote a book in 2008 called Red Carpet Workout, which he got an advance of £30k for and still receives royalties to this day.
In 2012, he then sold his business for an undisclosed sum to a FTSE 100 company.
The champagne flowed…
At 29-years-old Joe decided he wanted to invest his money into nightclubs.
He took over Whisky Mist and changed their fortunes, helping them make a profit for the first time in years.
The Rose Club, Bonbonniere London and Streaky Gin soon followed, with the recent addition of Bonbonniere Mykonos adding to his business empire.
Joe has entertained the likes of Snoop Dog, Paris Hilton, 50 Cent, Jamie Foxx and Nicole Scherzinger in his private bars.
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“It’s really difficult to get people to do lunges and eat salad, but it was easy getting people pissed, drink gin and tonic, party, and eat pizza,” Joe explained.
Joe’s clubs earn him around “20-30 million a year” and he’s said to be worth over £100m.
He regularly hires his own private jet and helicopter wherever he travels.
Then, at 33-years-old, he thought he’d be a professional boxer…
Knowing people in high places, including British heavyweight David Haye, opens doors.
So, when the British heavyweight boxer allowed Joe to train in his now defunct Hayemaker gym in south London, it was the beginning of a new challenge in his life.
“My first bar was with former world champion Barry Jones, so I’ve been around boxing for years,” Joe said on his new venture.
“Having grown up in a tough neighbourhood in Hounslow, you know if you can punch or not and you know if you can take a punch.
“A lot of strength and conditioning coaches make you box and I was always better than the other guys.
“But when life is good and you have a girlfriend, you have a curry that turns into a pizza that turns into a bottle of wine.
“And about five years ago I broke up with my long-term girlfriend; I was fat, weighed 230lb and was a disgrace.
“The nightclubs do a white collar boxing event but none of the other owners would fight me and if I was to fight a staff member from another club, I’d have everything to lose.
“But a friend of mine wrote on Facebook that they’d had a fight and I got in touch.”
Joe made his debut in late 2015 in the Dominican Republic, defeating Jorge Burgos by way of knockout.
“I just wanted to win a fight as a professional so I could tell my grandkids, but now I’m building something,” he said.
“My businesses have been phenomenal and I’m the sharpest I’ve ever been.
“I used to knock back the beers but I’ve stopped drinking and people send me emails saying they’ve lost 20lb since they started following me on Instagram.
“I sent guys I went to school with to do white collar boxing and it’s kept their marriage together.
“I’m never going to win a world title but if I could win a belt of some sort it would be a dream come true.”
And then he won the WBA International title…
Joe’s crowning glory, which has propelled him up the boxing stratosphere, was a WBA International title shot against Wilmer Mejia a week before last Christmas.
He was drafted in as a late-replacement opponent for the Dominican, who was the favourite to win.
After losing the first 2 rounds, he rocked Mejia with an uppercut in the 6th. Joe then finished the brawler in the 8th with a stunning body blow.
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The playboy famed for owning superclubs celebrated the only way he knew how…
“We had a bottle of beer then it was back to the hotel as I had to catch a flight at 5am,” he said.
And now, the world is his.
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