Roll the dice…. That’s all I needed to know about him. Davison is going to get a fighter killed some day.
He’s absolutely garbage. Look at how he completely changed Josh Taylor’s style. He’s utterly clueless when his fighter is in adversity. His only advices is either shouting ‘feints and fluidity’ or telling them to roll the dice.
He ruined Taylor. Look at the first few rounds of the Ramirez fight. He was boxing to Ben’s instructions and Ramirez was having success. Luckily there was still enough of Shane McGuigan in him that he reverted to type and just got stuck in on the inside. At no point did Davison tell him to do that if you watch it back, in fact he discouraged it. Taylor was always a fast-paced, high energy fighter who was great on the inside but his weakness was his lack of head movement against counter punches. Enter Davison and he’s asking Taylor to fight at range and committing to shots from far out. Suicidal instructions.
It was clear as day that Davison knew he SHOULD throw the towel in but he didn't want the responsibility of being the final reason the wonder child lost. So he cowardly let Howard Foster wave it and then threw the towel right after. The dude is a freaking weasel. Don't think I've told this story here, but it speaks volumes to who Davison is as a person/trainer: Before the AJ v. Dubois fight I was watching the prelims. The broadcast is trying to fill time between fights and while the announcers are yammering on they're panning the camera around the people at ringside. Lo and behold, there's Ben Boxercise Davison sitting ringside. He's sat there yucking it up and laughing his ass off with some VIPs. I thought it was weird because what trainer isn't with their fighter on fight night? Aren't you supposed to be looking after your guy, making sure he's on schedule, etc.? Sure enough we later find out that AJ got to the venue extremely late, barely had time to warm up, and then he comes out looking like a deer in the headlights and fights like a rank amateur.
Itauma underestimated Hrgovic and tried to blow him away which led to his demise. His inexperience cost him big time. A top class coach would never allow this to happen. Ben Davison is mediocre. Made his name off Tyson Fury who could literally train himself. Davison has always been a twat.
I think Davidsons a twat. I dont think his corner advise is great either. But in fairness his fighters getting beat are pretty much down to the fact his fighters are in big fights. Unlike say Joe Gallagher who,s fighters never lost in about 100 fights mainly because they kept fighting no hopers. Wardley was a blue collar fighter. Joshuas weaknesses had long been exposed. Josh Taylor was injured and he was on the last lap and Moses was fighting a top heavyweight far too soon due to his skill level being so high. All the top heavies from Lewis to Mike Tyson to Tyson Fury all had far better preparation fights leading up to their big fights. Up until recently it was absolutely essential to get them fights under your belt. Saturday night proved exactly why.
In almost all of their major wins they were behind on the cards and pulled out a late KO. I’m sure the game plan wasn’t to get battered about 2/3rds of the fight.
Davison always struck me as a pretty basic lad who clearly bonds well with boxers and obviously did great work getting Fury back into shape (though ultimately led Fury to wins over Seferi, Pianeta, Schwarz, a slightly dicey win over Wallin, and a draw with Wilder, before a team change actually adjusted Fury in the right way to win the world title). I've never heard him say anything particularly insightful or show that he's some kind of genius in the corner.
if moses itauma has never sparred 12 rounds, it goes to show how knowledgeable his corner really is, regardless of trainer
Its funny because obviously Ben Davison is known for his 'boxercise' work but I've not been convinced one bit he is good for stamina and conditioning? Perhaps he is just more suited for a weight loss personal trainer, which he did well with Fury. I would say he is a good motivator and has good man management skills, but that clearly doesn't translate to actual proper boxing coaching.
Yeah, all you need to know about Ben's actual coaching skills is that exchange in the AJ/Dubois fight. I was screaming at the TV for AJ to chill out for a few rounds and just jab. Whenever he jabbed and didn't let Dubois run up on him he was actually doing ok. All his problems were coming from wildly swinging for the fences and getting overbalanced and then leaving himself wide open. So I was baffled when Ben was telling him to just go out there and just devil may care it. Meanwhile, a legit trainer in Shane McGuigan heard it and had the same thoughts I did. Chill out, get AJ through a couple of rounds, and then let him take a shot late on in the fight. Dubois was clearly tiring, too.