Anthony Joshua has been told to leave his trainer, Ben Davidson, following his loss to Daniel Dubois.
Roy Jones Jr. made those comments as Joshua was dropped four times on his way to a fifth-round stoppage defeat. Joshua failed to become a three-time heavyweight champion as Dubois retained his IBF Heavyweight Belt. The victory means that Dubois is now able to face the winner of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, who fight on December 21.
Joshua had been chasing an undisputed fight since 2019 when talks over the Deontay Wilder fight broke down. Joshua would lose his belts to Usyk, while Wilder did the same to Fury. Joshua now faces some serious question marks moving forward. In his post-fight comments, he confirmed that he would not retire. During his time with Ben Davidson, Joshua was perceived as being back to his best self. He had stopped Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou in his last two fights.
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Joshua was fighting more on the front foot. But looking back, it may have been because he was not facing big-name fighters. There is a suggestion that Davidson’s advice let him down. He advised Joshua to use an uppercut, even though he had been dropped numerous times. Joshua took that advice when he landed consecutive right hands on Dubois, followed by an uppercut to leave himself open. Dubois reacted by landing a counter right hand to end the fight. Jones has called on Joshua to leave Davidson for a different trainer with more boxing experience.
“It takes real boxing knowledge to prepare yourself and get better. If you don’t have someone with real IQ and boxing knowledge who has been there and done that, they can’t teach you anything. You need someone who can charter those seas when they get tough. I don’t think Ben Davison has been in enough fights. Ben has done a lot of coaching, but it’s hard when you haven’t been there yourself.
“Some guys get lucky, but it’s very difficult for a coach who hasn’t been there himself. I can’t tell you how to swim through the ocean if I’ve never swam through the ocean before. I’m sorry. It’s nothing against Ben Davison because he’s been good, but when you get in that deep water and you ain’t been in that deep water, that shark invested water, it’s hard for you to tell somebody what it’s like because you’ve never been there,” Roy Jones Jr. said
The problem facing Joshua is that he has had numerous trainers since leaving Rob McCracken after losing the first Oleksandr Usyk fight. Joshua parted ways as he teamed up with Robert Garcia for the Usyk rematch. Joshua lost that fight as Garcia would then depart. AJ eventually found himself working with Derrick James, who was based in the United States.
There was hope that Joshua could benefit from a change in scenery, as he was in camp with other big names such as Errol Spence Jr, Jermall Charlo and Ryan Garcia. But Joshua’s wins under James were unconvincing. He looked far from his best against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius. However, Jones could ultimately become a name in that conversation since he has experience training Chris Eubank Jr., but whether that will suit Joshua’s style is anyone’s guess.
