Fabio Wardley, Anthony Joshua’s gym partner, has defended Ben Davison, the shared trainer who is facing criticism, on an extreme level.
The 34-year-old AJ performed at his finest in his past two knockout victories under the tutelage of the Harlow coach, who masterfully revived the career of Tyson Fury.
Anthony Joshua gym-mate Fabio Wardley has come to the x-rated defence of under-fire shared trainer Ben Davison.
Davison got the best out of 34-year-old AJ in his previous two knockout wins.
However, against Daniel Dubois on Saturday night, the formbook was completely thrown out the window as the London 2012 legend was destroyed in five one-sided rounds. Furthermore, Davison is under fire for his cornerwork, where he gave plain and loud directions to “roll the dice” and deliver uppercuts. This helped Joshua get violently starched for the first time in his illustrious career and has earned the trainer pelters.
But Wardley – who rematches Frazer Clarke on October 12 – told the critics: “They can all f*** off, all of them, they are all f***ing idiots. It doesn’t make any sense.
“Ben has done a tremendous amount of work with a bunch of fighters.
“One loss does not make him a bad coach or a bad trainer, it just didn’t work on the night.
“There isn’t a single trainer in the UK that hasn’t lost a fight.
“But one loss and everyone says he’s no good. But that’s fickle, everyone talks a lot of b*******s.
Joshua, 34, was knocked out in round one and lost his legs, balance, and senses. Strong punches, especially uppercuts, felt riskier when delivered without a solid basis. When renowned trainer Shane McGuigan, a commentator at the ring, heard the instructions for the fourth round, he quickly became pessimistic. And Wardley acknowledges that if he had experienced such an early attack, he would have acted differently.
The Suffolk Puncher explained: “I think, my own personal opinion, is that his initial gameplan in the first minute didn’t work.
“Then Daniel steamrolled him, chased him down.
“After he got clipped, he kept backing up and that just gives your opposition more momentum.
“I would have said ‘tuck your chin, guard up, shoulders in, and throw punches.
“Get low and start letting bombs go, let the opponent know you are still there.
“Let your opponent know you are still there.”
The modest British champion – who started out boxing in pubs – said: “That’s what I think he should have done but what do I know, he’s a two-time world champion and I am a little white-collar bloke.”