Boxercise Ben

Think i,d have said the same as ben on saturday tbh. It probably was time to roll the dice. He,d been put over 4 times...surely another time and it would have been over.

Knowing aj has power at some point when its going badly wrong and dubois was beating him at boxing it probably is time to roll the dice and try to fight your way back into it.

 

I agree with your point; Joshua was in a dire state at the time, it surely wasn't long before Dubois scored the stoppage regardless so there was nothing wrong with Joshua going for broke when he sensed Dubois was in trouble.

However assessing the fight on an overall basis, I feel that was the worst version of Joshua we have seen in a good while (possibly ever), and Davison has to take responsibility for that. Joshua was keeping his hands down as if he had RJJ reflexes, when in actual fact his reflexes were no match for DDD's speed and pressure, and he was being tagged at will like I've never seen before. I feel he would have fared much better under McCracken even, who at least would have drilled the fundamentals into Joshua.

 

Probably true. The only thing is the same thing happened under mcCracken against ruiz. The hands came down. When his brains scrambled....all coaching seems to go out the window for him.

Your only as good as your last fight....so ben has to come under scrutiny granted but i dont think its fair to come to any sort of conclusion off the back of it. We,ve seen aj do this on numerous occasions now under different coaches.

I think its becoming clear that aj has a massive flaw that no one can really fix. Bearing in mind one shot can lead him taking far too long to recover. As a coach how do you go about it if say your fighting someone just as athletic with a better gas tank and quicker with power. He doesnt have the leg speed to get out the way and doesnt have the chin to fight it out.

I think you,ve got a good point tho mcCracken would have got him better fundamentals to avoid the first shot that caused the initial problems. I do think tho it is just papering over the cracks he,d have been caught at some point. Hes been spoon fed with the coaching from day one to the point i think he,s confused by it all. At some point he had to stop listening and start finding out how to fight for himself. Him and wilder have the opposite problems. Wilder refused too listen. Joshua listened to everything even tho i dont think he quite understands what hes meant to be doing now.

 

Would you have also told him to throw the uppercut that got him immediately knocked out like Davison did?

 

"Roll the dice" combined with throw the uppercut is extremely reckless strategic advice that put together resulted in an almost instant KO loss for Joshua.

 

Probably yes. Thats the point of rolling the dice. Your taking a gamble to try get back in a fight.....a fight your being outboxed in outfought in and outsped in.

He,d also been put over 4 times by that point. If there was ever a time to roll the dice the 5th round was probably it. His time to roll the dice was running out.

The gamble didnt pay off in the end....but they pretty much had a choice of two instructions at that point.....roll the dice or try to survive. He,d been surviving....by the time the 4th knockdown came that instruction wasnt likely to get you anywhere either.

 

I asked you about the uppercut mate.

 

The probably yes....was a reply to that bud. I,ve not heard that instruction from ben so not sure what exactly he instructed.

His straight one two was having little effect tho. Probably something they,d worked on. The uppercut.

 

Davison has managed to get hold of 4 of the UK’s best fighters in Joshua, Fury, Taylor and Saunders. Joshua got beat in his first real test under him with awful tactics and the other 3 sacked him.

 

You definitely wouldn't throw the uppercut going forward, is an argument for trying to walk him onto it. In this instance Ben was probably over credited with AJs pretend reincarnation and now over criticised for AJs career long flaws. If your willing to take the first you have to swallow the second. I think he has overstretched himself fighter wise and believes his own press somewhat.

 

Shane explained that the uppercut leaves Joshua exposed to a short right hand that Dubois is always looking to line up and cautioned how foolish that plan would be. "Roll the dice" and "uppercut" was absolutely awful advice from Davison which we know looking back on it. Joshua faithfully followed everything Davison asked him to do and was brutally knocked out moments later for doing so.

 

Joshua was already exposed to pretty much everything dubois was throwing at that point regardless. He,d been down 4 times still looked shaky and one more time over would have been the end of the fight.

The uppercut always leaves you exposed to an extent unless you land it and thats exactly what they we,re banking on....landing it.

They had to try something to change the fight. Turned out the advise didnt pay off.

 

How about some tactics to try to help clear his head and get him back into control of the fight? How about pick your hands up? Stop leaving your chin in the air? Where was any of that during the fight? Where was any of that all throughout the training camp?

 

How many times do we have to see joshua fall apart to realise its not the trainer. When he gets clipped all the coaching goes out the window.

The gameplan looked like he was going to box him off the back foot...set up the big shot etc. Dubois pretty much collapsed that as a gameplan from early. Joshuas boxing wasnt getting him anywhere fast.

That was the tactic to get him back in the fight....roll the dice and try fight your way back into it. It very nearly worked as well because he wobbled dubois.

Without seeing what was said between rounds i agree tho if davidson hasnt told him to pick up his hands and stop leaving his chin in the air during the fight it was the far bigger mistake than telling him to roll the dice and throw the uppercut. Not sure it would have done much to change the fight tbf dubois was too fast for him and joshua was on slow reaction mode by that point.

I think in the past joshuas used a high guard....because his footspeed going backwards isnt quite fast enough dubois would have punched through that guard anyway. It usually left joshua offensively too predictable as well.

 

This is the worst Joshua has ever looked. He has never been as hittable or defensively irresponsible as this. Hands down by his waist, chin up in the air, pulling back in straight lines. Davison has to take the blame for sending him out there in that state as well as giving him instructions in the 5th which Joshua loyally followed through on verbatim resulting in the worst KO loss in his career.