Eddie Hearn believes that trainer Ben Davison is not at fault for the tactics that led to Anthony Joshua being knocked out by Daniel Dubois.
Joshua was stopped by Dubois in the fifth round of their clash for the IBF heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium on September 21. Having been dropped in the opening round, the former champion never seemed to recover.
After going down twice more, Joshua had his best round in the fourth and caught Dubois just before the bell. During the interval between the fourth and fifth rounds, Joshua’s trainer, Ben Davison, instructed his fighter to follow up his jab with a right uppercut.
Dubois’ former trainer, Shane McGuigan, who was commentating on the fight at ringside for BBC, heard these instructions and was quick to point out that Joshua would be open to a counter right hand. McGuigan’s prediction later virally came to light and Joshua was dropped heavily moments later by a short right hand that put him down for the full 10-count.
Hearn – Joshua’s promoter and long-time friend – believes that the blame cannot be laid at the feet of Davison after the trainer received high praise for his wins over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou. He instead believes that Joshua failed to follow instructions and the knockout was the consequence of rolling the dice after having Dubois hurt.
“I mean [Davison] gets all the praise for his last couple of performances,” Hearn told BoxingScene. “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.
“Now Shane’s analysis, which actually came at the time, normally it comes after, so it was smart from Shane. But, of course, if you don’t throw the uppercut correctly and you keep your hands low when you’re throwing it, you are open to the right hand and that is something to learn on. 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.”
Hearn believes that past experiences, like losses to Andy Ruiz Jr and Oleksandr Usyk, have led to Joshua being able to handle defeat better and that he is eyeing another shot at becoming a three-time world champion.
“I mean he’s definitely gutted,” said Hearn. “But obviously, when you’ve lost before, like anything it’s not that you want to get used to it, but you know just how to experience and handle the emotions.
“I think that one of the things that I told him was, ‘although you boxed poorly and you made mistakes, you couldn’t have done anything more, you couldn’t have tried anymore, you couldn’t have given any more, you couldn’t have been braver. And by the way, when you got knocked out, you were trying to knock him out because you’d hurt him.’
“‘So, you should be proud of what you’ve done’,” Hearn continued. “[He] had a stinker, didn’t box well at all, he boxed great, Dubois. That’s it, and you know he’s very frustrated because of the work that he put in more than anything, but he’s also very determined to fight back and to get another shot at the world heavyweight title.”
Hearn confirmed that Joshua’s one remaining fight with Riyadh Season could be a rematch with Dubois or a long-awaited showdown with his domestic rival Tyson Fury
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