Fabio Wardley has suggested trainer Ben Davison could help Anthony Joshua with “some inside knowledge” in his fight with Tyson Fury.
Trainer Davison has previously worked with Joshua and Fury, but he will be in Joshua’s corner for their highly-anticipated heavyweight clash at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 11.
Wardley, the former WBO heavyweight champion who also works with Davison, understands Joshua’s reasoning.
“Your trainer, regardless of working with people before is a big factor going into the fight,” Wardley said. Sky Sports News.
“There’s going to be some insider knowledge, however applicable it is and however it’s used in combat, maybe, maybe not. It always depends on the fighter you’re facing.
“You play for their strengths, not for the opponent’s weaknesses.”
Fury called Davison a “traitor”, but former world champion George Groves didn’t think that was fair.
“Of course it’s not. He’s worked with almost all the heavyweights and I would imagine that Fury got away from Davison and not the other way around. It’s just more of a joke, not that the fight needs it,” Groves said. Sky Sports.
Joshua has recently been working with Oleksandr Usyk’s training team before bringing Davison back into his corner on fight night, but Groves believes Joshua has made the right decision.
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“When they’re in the corner and he needs some advice, maybe Ben Davison giving it to him feels a bit more familiar than, say, a Usyk team or an American rental coach or one of those guys,” Groves said.
“You can find more established coaches, on paper, better than Ben Davison, but sometimes when crisis strikes, you want a familiar voice, so Ben Davison takes the call.
“This is probably the right move.”
Should Fury-AJ be a world title fight?
Wardley can regain the WBO heavyweight title in his rematch with Daniel Dubois on Saturday.
Fury vs Joshua will also have a world title at stake, the WBA ‘super’ belt, and Wardley hopes he can earn a fight against the winner by beating Dubois at The O2.
“It’s a fight worthy of a world title. Where they were ranked, they fully deserve it – that’s more of a question maybe for the WBA,” Wardley said of Fury-Joshua.
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“Do they both deserve a world title on the line? Maybe they do. Does that add an extra incentive, an extra joke for each of them and for us as a public to talk about it and say if they win, they’re going to win a world title?
“And then does that mean they then go on and start taking over like me or (Filip) Hrgovic or (Agit) Kabayel or who knows?”
