Roy Jones Jr believes Ben Davison’s lack of fighting experience didn’t help Anthony Joshua in his Daniel Dubois defeat.
Joshua was in scintillating form under the guidance of Davison, and was confident of beating Dubois in his third fight under the trainer’s stewardship at Wembley Stadium.
Joshua was badly beaten by DuboisGetty
But he suffered a devastating defeat, being dropped four times en route to a brutal stoppage, which has left him requiring another rebuild.
It remains unclear whether Joshua will remain with Davison for his next fight, with retirement seemingly off the table for now.
And boxing legend Jones Jr believes the trainer is not in a position to advise Joshua unless he has felt what it is like to be clipped in a fight.
“It takes real boxing knowledge and IQ and people who have been there, and if you don’t have somebody who has they can’t teach you that,” Jones Jr said on White & Jordan.
“You have to have somebody who knows how to travel those seas when things get tough.
“Yeah I don’t think Ben Davison has had a lot of fights himself. He has had a lot of coaching.
“But he hasn’t been there himself and it’s hard if you haven’t been there yourself.
“Some guys get lucky but it is very difficult to coach without that. He hasn’t been through that war.
“I can’t teach you how to swim through the ocean if I haven’t been through the ocean before.
“I’m sorry. Nothing against Ben Davison, he has done a good job with fighters.
Joshua was urged by Davison to ‘roll the dice’ which has since been criticisedGetty
Jones Jr was critical of the corner advice to JoshuatalkSPORT
“But when you get to that deep water, it is hard to tell people if you haven’t been there.”
Davison faced some criticism after the fight, particularly for his advice when he suggested that Joshua ‘rolled the dice’ in what turned out to be his final round.
Joshua now appears to be interested in an immediate revenge mission against Dubois, with Saudi boxing chief HE Turki Alalshikh interested in making the fight.
After the fight, the boxing trainer admitted he harbours responsibility alongside AJ for the defeat.
But Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes Davison wasn’t to blame.
“I mean [Davison] gets all the praise for his last couple of performances,” Hearn told Boxing Scene.
“AJ did things that Ben didn’t tell him to do, he pulled back in a straight line with his chin in the air, his hand position, you know, all this kind of stuff.
“What happened at that point is he started to recover but he was still very low in the tank, and that wasn’t going to change.
“What you don’t want to do is be nine, or 10 rounds in and be damaged goods. This is the chance here [when he hurt Dubois in Round 5].
“You’ve got your feet back, you buzzed him in the fourth round, roll the dice. I think it should be commended.
“But you know I think Ben [Davison] and Lee [Wylie] do a great job, have done a great job, he just didn’t perform, and you know I think as a team they’ll regroup and come again.”
