Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr has advised Anthony Joshua to dump trainer Ben Davison following the Brit’s defeat to Daniel Dubois last month.
Heading into the clash with Dubois, Joshua was a huge favourite and had enjoyed a lot of recent success in the ring. However, ‘AJ’ struggled from the first bell. ‘Dynamite’ went on to drop the two-time heavyweight champion four times in total before securing a sensational knockout in the fifth round to retain his IBF title.
Despite such a one-sided main event, Joshua refused to walk away. “You’re probably asking if I still want to consider fighting. Of course I want to continue fighting,” said Joshua, who declined to take questions at the post-fight press conference. “We took a shot at success and we came up short. What does that mean now? That we’re going to run away? We’re going to live to fight another day. And that’s what I am – I’m a warrior.
“Always walk with your head high. We rolled the dice for the third time. There have been 13 world-title fights, not every one of them has been successful but every one has been fun and entertaining. There were a few mistakes in there but that’s the name of the game. Fine margins will cost you at the top level. Also before I finish, we have to give credit our opponent Daniel. When I sign up to fight opponents, I don’t really like them in my head any more. But now that it’s done, I take my hat off to him and say well done.”
Following his defeat at Wembley, Joshua has dropped to seventh in the heavyweight rankings. While fans are calling for Dubois to face the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II, it would seem that a second showdown with ‘AJ’ appears more realistic. Frank Warren, Dubois promoter, has revealed that ‘Dynamite’s’ next fight will take place early next year and is very much open to the rematch between the two heavyweight giants with February 22 pencilled in for a fight card in Riyadh.
Amid talks of a potential rematch, Jones Jr believes Joshua needs to ditch Davison in favour of someone who has actual experience in the sport as he believes the famous coach doesn’t have the encyclopaedic knowledge of boxing because he is not a fighter. Speaking to talkSPORT boxing, he said: “It takes real boxing knowledge to prepare yourself and get better. If you don’t have someone with real IQ and boxing knowledge who has been there and done that, they can’t teach you anything. You need someone who can charter those seas when they get tough. I don’t think Ben Davison has been in enough fights. Ben has done a lot of coaching, but it’s hard when you haven’t been there yourself.”
Davison famously trained Tyson Fury ahead of his return to the ring in 2018 following a three-year hiatus from the sport. However, just months before the Brit’s rematch with Deontay Wilder, ‘The Gyspy King’ offloaded him in favour of SugarHill Steward.
Jones Jr added: Some guys get lucky, but it’s very difficult for a coach who hasn’t been there himself. I can’t tell you how to swim through the ocean if I’ve never swam through the ocean before. I’m sorry. It’s nothing against Ben Davison because he’s been good, but when you get in that deep water and you ain’t been in that deep water, that shark invested water, it’s hard for you to tell somebody what it’s like because you’ve never been there.”
