Trainer Ben Davison has said he and Tyson Fury would not make the same mistake as Anthony Joshua had recently made in his defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr, saying they had prepared for his heavyweight fight with Tom Schwarz in Las Vegas “professionally”.
Davison offered a withering analysis of Joshua’s tactics, saying the former world heavyweight champion lacked variety and the ability to change patterns which may lead to his downfall to Ruiz Jr for a second time if they rematch.
Asked if the Joshua defeat had been a wake-up call for Davison, who has lived with Fury for 18 months to help him shed 140 pounds in weight, battle depression and return from the boxing abyss, the trainer was unequivocal in his response.
“No,” he said. “We always prepare professionally, no matter who we’re boxing or where we’re boxing. Because we know those things [as in the Joshua fight] can happen. That being said, nothing against Joshua, but that was going to happen. Adaptions needed to be made and I didn’t see them being made enough and in time before they got… I don’t want to say exploited, but brought to attention.”
“It’s easy to say what I would have changed, but it all comes back to what your body is used to doing and game plans. I always say that at this level, it all boils down to game plans. If you go in there with the wrong game plan, it can make an easy fight a tough fight. I feel for Joshua he hasn’t got enough variability. I don’t feel like he can adjust. I think in his last couple of fights he’s been caught in between boxing and fighting, rather than just doing one of the two and having the fluidity to flow from the two.”
“He was having a low left hand, jabbing from the hip – I’ve never seen him train from the hip. I’ve never seen him do that, I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen him do it. I’ve never seen Joshua hit the pads from the hip. I’ve always seen he’s been trained to punch from a certain hand placement. I’ve never seen him train to throw from a low, loose guard. If you’re going to try something, don’t try it on the night of a world title fight. It has to be practised in the gym. Your style has got to adjust for who you’re boxing.”
Davison added: “I don’t want to go into too much detail, because he’s a potential opponent, but changes have to be made. They’ve decided to jump straight back into the rematch. If you can break it down and be specific, and they know where they went wrong, then it might be an idea having the rematch. But if they don’t, then I wouldn’t go into that rematch.”
Davison is taking nothing for granted against underdog Schwarz. Indeed, at training, Fury is being driven harder than ever.
“I am a young trainer and sometimes you want to go and do things, but it’s my job to be a wise head. People talk about punchers, but in the heavyweight division they can all punch. At the minute I don’t look at Deontay Wilder [the WBC heavyweight champion] at all, because we’ve got Tom Schwarz first.
“What I care about is that Tyson’s in a good place – psychically and emotionally – he’s back to normal thriving boxing in Las Vegas. People do always say it, we’re always looking to improve camp, but in terms of sparring, it’s been the best I’ve seen him so far.”
“I was looking at the stats Tyson in the Wilder and Klitschko fights. I was happy with the stats and the performance. A lot of people say the [Wilder fight] was his best performance overall. Could he has been in better condition? Yeah of course. After the journey we’ve been on we’re not going to be 100 per cent. Some things were rushed. In the long run it pays dividends.”
As for Schwarz, Davison has run the rule over him. “He’s got a typical German style. Reverts to a high guard. Of course, there are pitfalls. It’s a win-win for him. He’s young, hungry, quite fast on his feet and he’s a big man. People talk about punchers, but in the heavyweight division they can all punch. Obviously there’s flaws we’ll be looking to exploit but I don’t want to get into them.”
Davison sees his role as keeping the lid on the Vegas fight, a place Fury is both fighting and visiting for the first time.
“I am a young trainer and sometimes you want to go and do things, but it’s my job to be a wise head. I have to do that. I take my job seriously and so does Tyson and everybody here, so it’s not a hard thing to do. Afterwards we can look back and remember headlining in Vegas. You can’t overlook anybody and we never do. We’ve got a job to do and maybe after that we can appreciate it.”
Given the exuberance of Fury, Davison – cool, calm, collected, always thoughtful – appears the perfect antidote. “Look, the fighters get in and do the fighting. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Tyson. Tyson might say the same about me, but he’s the one who gets in there and does the fighting. People will always have a criticism. Trainers have their own philosophies. Look how successful Rob McCracken has been and how much he’s achieved, and look at the reaction to Joshua’s loss.”
The big one for Davison will be pitting his wits against WBC champion Wilder again. “Yeah, that’s the big one to a certain degree. But, I don’t think about it at all. At the minute I don’t look at Wilder at all, because we’ve got Tom Schwarz first. That’s the job in hand, and if we don’t get him out of the way, we aren’t in the place to think about the next challenge.”