Ben Davison has once again come under fire in the days that have followed Fabio Wardley’s defeat to Daniel Dubois. Two-time heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury has shared his thoughts on his former trainer’s decision to throw in the towel.
Davison trained Fury for the first five bouts following his 2018 comeback, but was replaced by SugarHill Steward – whom ‘The Gypsy King’ has remained with ever since – for the iconic rematch with Deontay Wilder in 2020.
Since training Fury for his first meeting with Wilder, which ended in a draw, Davison has been on the losing side in four heavyweight world title bouts, cornering Anthony Joshua and Fabio Wardley, who both lost to Dubois, and Moses Itauma, who was defeated by Filip Hrgovic.
Saturday night was the latest of these defeats, as Dubois stopped Wardley inside two rounds in their rematch to retain the WBO heavyweight world title. On his Instagram, Fury described Dubois’ performance as ‘awesome’.
“It was absolutely awesome. Daniel Dubois just went straight to him and set about him. Wardley likes to throw hooks and Daniel threw straights and a straight always gets there first, before the hook.
“So, fair play to Dan and his team, to Don Charles and the rest of the guys in the corner. They did a fantastic job.”
Fury then said that Davison’s decision to intervene and ‘save Fabio Wardley from himself’ was a good one, perhaps learning a lesson from the first encounter, which saw his fighter take a sound beating before the eventual eleventh-round stoppage.
“It was good work by Ben Davison to throw the towel in, in my opinion. The last time he [Wardley] took too much punishment for my liking, he should have threw it in earlier.
“This time, people are complaining about it being too soon but I don’t think that Fabio was in any position to keep taking bombs around the head. I thought it was a good decision to throw the towel in early and save him from himself.
“He has got some chin on him, I will tell you that. ‘Triple D’ is a dynamite puncher and he was taking them flush and still standing, so credit to Fab’s chin.”
Davison will train Anthony Joshua against Fury on Friday, December 11, as he looks to score a first win as a trainer in a heavyweight world title contest, which would simultaneously see ‘AJ’ become a three-time champion of the division.
