As the razzamatazz of Tyson Fury’s scintillating Las Vegas debut faded, heavyweight boxing’s leading light singled out his young trainer Ben Davison as key to his comeback. He explained: “I speak with him every day, and he is a counsellor to me.”
With a mega-fight rematch planned for Fury against World Boxing Council champion Deontay Wilder after their controversial draw last December, Davison, 26, from Hertfordshire, remains pivotal to Fury’s resurgence.
Davison, a former amateur boxer and semi-professional footballer, told The Sunday Telegraph: “On the one hand, I’m organiser, PR man, commercial manager, partly his manager, partly his adviser – every single part of his world I play a part in. But I’m friend, trainer, psychologist, too.
“Tyson puts his trust in me. He trusts my opinion on things large and small.”
Davison was 23 when he met Fury in Marbella three years ago through mutual friend and middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders. Fury weighed nearly 28st, and was deep into dealing with depression, even contemplating suicide. Fury now talks openly about his mental-health issues. He has been praised for that, rather than attracting the notoriety from some of his comments earlier in his career.
The two men clicked, and Davison moved into a spare room in Fury’s family home in Morecambe, Lancashire, for almost 14 months. He worked on Fury’s exquisite boxing skills, head movement, and speed – and an incredible weight loss of 10st.
Davison said: “For him to get to where he is now was not just a physical transformation, but more of a mental one. What you see physically is only a fraction of the transformation that took place.” Did Davison have any idea then that they would go on this journey together?
“I did. I always knew I’d be in this position. I set myself a goal to be the youngest trainer of a world champion. I said I’d do it before I reached 25. That’s not a cocky thing or being arrogant, I just always knew. I don’t know why.
“The key is that I’m not a ‘yes’ man. People make that assumption simply because of the age difference. There are times when he wants to train and I’d like him to rest. But I knew if I said no, he’d be in a bad mood going into the next day. Training is his medicine. Knowing what’s best is part of having a relationship and gelling together.
“I’m aware of the influence I can have on him. But he’s got a flamboyant style and personality. That shows in his performances, his ring walk and media work. It’s just him expressing who he is in and out of the ring. It’s just Tyson. It’s all natural. To see where’s he’s come from, though, is unimaginable.
“You could have never dreamt of this when I first started with him. I think he gets love all around the world now. He speaks about mental health and people respect that.
“I think Tyson has realised the public will like him if he is truly himself. That’s just confidence and maturity. Deep down, he’s a good person and that shines through.”
Davison was not completely happy with Fury’s victory over Tom Schwarz in the second round. “It doesn’t mean it wasn’t a very good performance, but there were certain things I asked him to do. Speed was the key for the first part of that fight.
“But I knew Tyson had it in the back of his mind that if he had the opportunity to break him physically, then he would. That wasn’t what I asked him to do.”
A new camp is not yet scheduled, but Davison revealed: “It’s a little bit loose. We speak most days. I can tell by a text message what sort of a mood he’s in. If I see his mood drop, then I’ll organise something. We might go over to Marbella and take the family. Sometimes he might need some form of training camp just for his medicine and mental health.
“The biggest thing that I’ve taken from our relationship is that he needs training, routine and structure. If there’s anything I’ve helped him find over this journey it’s that.
“He knows what his needs and wants are, and there’s a difference between those. That means more to me than any wins of any sport. If he cleaned up this era, what would it all be for? It would mean nothing because he’d be straight back to where he was. The biggest achievement is knowing what he needs and that means more to me. And more to his family than winning 300 million fights.”