Anthony Joshua may appear rejuvenated to some pundits under the fresh tutelage of trainer Ben Davison, but Davison himself believes that is ‘nonsense’.
AJ blasted out Otto Wallin after five brutal rounds on that huge ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Riyadh last month, one of his most impressive performances in recent years.
Turki Alalshikh reveals health issues which drive his boxing mission
It was the first time Davison – former mentor to a certain Tyson Fury – had worked with Joshua, and the results were stunning.
Ben Davison on working with Joshua
But the trainer himself believes he may be getting too much credit for what happened in the desert in December.
“As much as people are saying ‘Ben’s rejuvenated AJ’ – it’s a load of nonsense,” Davison told Queensberry Promotions (watch the full interview at the bottom of this page).
“He’s an Olympic gold medallist. All that we’ve done is helped him understand that ‘these are the tools that you’ve got that we think will work for that job, these are the tools you’ve got that we think will work for that job’.
Warren vs Hearn CONFIRMED as promoters sign up for HUGE card
“Lee Wylie [Davison’s colleague] says this about football. Pep Guardiola doesn’t tell Cristiano Ronaldo to kick the football a little bit more with this part of his foot. He teaches the team how to play in a system against another team – and that’s what we do as coaches at this level.”
Why critics are WRONG on AJ
The prevailing narrative that Joshua is somehow rejuvenated is just one popular misconception that Davison believes is wide of the mark when it comes to the two-time world heavwyeight champion. In particular he has one other myth he wants to debunk.
Heavyweight Rankings: Latest top 10 ahead of Fury vs Usyk
“I don’t know if he’d want me to say this, but all this, the character people have got where’s not sure, all these questions, and mindset – I don’t know where people get it from.
“Obviously they only see a certain side of him and a certain element. But very very smart guy, knows what he wants and very determined. So yeah, a lot of people are very confused with the type of character, and who he is.”
