Western Morning News (Saturday)
The man behind Fury’s return to fitness can’t wait to be proved right
Two days after his 26th birthday, the previously littleknown figure of Ben Davison could lead Tyson Fury to one of the greatest comebacks of all time.
It was Davison, then best known for working with Billy Joe Saunders during his unconvincing victory over Russia’s Artur Akavov in 2016, who succeeded in motivating Fury to lose ten stones and return to the ring after more than two-and-a-half years of inactivity.
Davison recognises he will largely be blamed if Fury is defeated by Wilder but the fact he is fighting perhaps the world’s most dangerous active boxer after 14 low-level rounds in three years, means that would be over-simplistic.
Despite this, the reality remains that Davison is yet to experience the pressure that comes on the very biggest stage.
Ricky Hatton and the great Freddie Roach have been recruited to join him in what will be Fury’s decorated corner, and if he needed further encouragement ahead of tomorrow night’s fight at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, he received it with Wilder’s tension when he again met Fury.
“Tyson’s comeback fight was a big fight,” Davison told Press Association Sport.
“Imagine if something had gone wrong in one of them, if that wasn’t pressure? That would straightaway have been put on me.
“It’s all the same, and I don’t get too bothered by critics – I know I’d be the first to take the blame, I’m fully aware of that and I was aware of that when I took that job on. No risk, no reward – no pressure, no diamonds.
“I haven’t got a point to prove – to who? It’s an easy target to say ’I was young, Tyson made a mistake, he shouldn’t have had him’. But nobody else managed to get Tyson motivated – he was in that state for two-and-a-half years.
“I’m very balanced – I don’t get too carried away and let my emotions run too high or too low and that’s been key to help- ing Tyson get back to where he is.
“If I couldn’t do the job I wouldn’t be head trainer.
“Deontay’s probably the most dangerous fighter in boxing, but I’m very confident in Tyson’s ability.
“It’ll be a fantastic moment [when he wins] and I’m looking forward to it.”
Fury’s preparations took fighter and trainer from the altitude of Big Bear in California to Roach’s renowned Wild Card gym in Los Angeles, where the American’s experience and expertise have been used. “I’m in charge, but it’s good to bounce ideas off each other now and then,” he said.
“Sometimes he might say ’I like when Tyson does this’ and I might think, ‘OK, yes, I might get him to do that a little more often’, or say to Freddie ‘What do you think about this?’
“Freddie’s a legend and won numerous world titles; Ricky’s won world titles as a trainer as well as a fighter, so there’s a fantastic wealth of experience in the corner.”
The big fight will take place in the early hours of Sunday morning.