Ben Davison moves on to Josh Taylor’s corner without regrets that he wasn’t there for Tyson Fury’s stunning seventh-round stoppage of Deontay Wilder.
In a business known for acrimonious splits between trainers and fighters, Davison almost stands alone.
He’s just happy that a friend won.
“What’s most important to me is Tyson being victorious,” Davison told talkSPORT. “I’ve got many years in this sport.’’
Those years continue with Taylor, the junior welterweight champion who announced Thursday that Davison will be his new trainer for a mandatory defense against Apinum Khongsong on May 2.
Taylor, who holds two 140-pound belts, is coming off a contentious split with trainer Shane McGuigan after his jump from Barry McGuigan’s Cyclone Promotions to Top Rank.
But there was no anger from Davison at Fury’s decision to hire SugarHill Steward, who added the aggressive tactics long taught by his late mentor and uncle, Emanuel Steward, to Fury’s skillset.
“Tyson had said to me he wanted to adopt a more aggressive approach,’’ said Davison, who was in Fury’s corner for their draw with Wilder in their fist fight in December 2018. “It proved to be the right decision for him and obviously I wanted him to be victorious more than anything.
“So, as well as a coach and fighter relationship, we had a friendship that was more than anything else. I wanted him to win. And if that meant I was going to be there and – put bluntly – if it meant that I wasn’t going to gain from it financially, that doesn’t matter.’’
A more aggressive Fury in the early rounds against Wilder in the heavyweight rematch Feb. 22 proved to be brilliant. It confused Wilder. Fury was on top of him immediately, which eliminated the space Wilder needs for the leverage to set up his feared right hand.
“Tyson had actually said to me quite a while ago that he wanted to start fast and start hard against Deontay Wilder,’’ Davison said. “But he actually said it to me and I said to him, ‘There are a couple of ways you can go about it. You can Hagler-Hearns on him or you can Sugar Ray Leonard-Hearns him.’’
Turns out, he did a lot of both.
Read more:
Josh Taylor title defense: May 2 in Scotland, Ben Davison in corner
Tyson Fury beats the heavyweight title out of Deontay Wilder