Had the judges got the decision right in the Staples Centre, Ben Davison would likely be the runaway favourite to be named Trainer of the Year
Davison has been praised for his work with Tyson Fury in the build-up to his clash with Deontay Wilder which ended in a controversial split draw at the beginning of the month.
Despite turning just 26 on fight week, Davison has displayed wisdom beyond his years with his guidance of ‘The Gypsy King’.
Davison led cornering duties on December 1, while Fury also enlisted the help of boxing legends Ricky Hatton and Freddie Roach for the WBC heavyweight title fight.
Hatton expressed nothing but admiration for Davison when we spoke to ‘The Hitman’ earlier this week but the same can’t be said for Roach, who revealed that he was unconvinced by Davison’s advice.
“I was disappointed that Fury didn’t get the chance to finish him,” Roach told Fox Sports.
Talked with @FreddieRoach (who was in Fury's corner) on today's episode of @FairGameonFS1. Freddie told me he was disappointed with Tyson Fury's corner and thought he could have knocked Deontay Wilder out a couple times had they made better decisions. Today at 5:30 ET. pic.twitter.com/kdYXP3kBdl
— Kristine Leahy (@KristineLeahy) December 11, 2018
“It was funny because we had one fight earlier in the night – the first fight of the night that wasn’t televised – and Ben gave the exact same instructions to the 126lbs fighter that he did to the heavyweight fighter.
“I said: ‘Why are you treating these people the same?’ These fighters know each other but they’re not the same. His instructions were the same and choreographed for both guys.
“I was a little disappointed and I told Tyson that maybe I could help Ben along the way because he did a great job with the conditioning and the weight loss. And he’s only a 26-year-old kid. If Tyson had won then I don’t think I’d be the youngest trainer to have a world champion anymore.”
After the WBC agreed to sanction an immediate rematch between Fury and Wilder, both fighters have already started their preparations for what would be one of the biggest fights of 2019.
“Possibly,” Roach responded when asked if he would insist on being the lead cornerman for the rematch.
“But me and Tyson and his brother spoke about it and we decided to go home and enjoy Christmas. Then we’ll have a meeting in the UK or in America with each other and we left it at that.”
Roach’s comments have predictably not gone down well, with esteemed coaches like Dave Coldwell and Adam Booth criticising the Wild Card owner for his remarks.
Wow.
Really disappointing from Freddie.
A great established trainer, publicly running down the young coach who didn’t have a problem with bringing him on board in order to help Tyson can only be a desperate move to pinch his fighter.
You can’t fault the job Ben Davidson did. https://t.co/65cNsn95E5— Dave Coldwell (@davidcoldwell) December 12, 2018
We know he’s pitching for a job and trying to use Ben to give his bid credibility! Cheap. @BenDavison_ instructions already Won the fight! https://t.co/Xa2QVWTxEA
— Adam Booth (@boxingbooth) December 12, 2018
I’ve met Freddie before and he was nothing but respectful and a nice guy but this is poor, @BenDavison_ done an amazing job they clearly won the fight, game plan was spot on, really disappointed with this 😔 https://t.co/tL0tB2IXpH
— Anthony Fowler (@afowler06) December 12, 2018
Davison, as has been his style ever since being drafted in by Fury as an unheralded coach, laughed the situation off.
The Boxing world making a war zone 😂😂
— Ben Davison (@BenDavison_) December 12, 2018
