Groves backs Joshua’s decision to bring Davison back to his corner

After recently working with Oleksandr Usyk’s training team, Joshua has brought Ben Davison back to his corner for fight night. George Groves believes the decision is the right one. Davison has previously worked with both Joshua and Tyson Fury, who are due to meet in a long-awaited heavyweight showdown at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 11.

Fabio Wardley also sees a potential benefit in the pairing: Davison could give Joshua insight into Fury from their time working together. Wardley, who also works with Davison, understands Joshua’s reasoning. “Your trainer is a huge factor going into a fight, irrespective of whether they have worked with other people before,” he said.

Groves’ main point is familiarity. In a crisis, he explained, a familiar voice in the corner can be more reassuring than a new coach, even if other trainers seem more established or better on paper. He also argued that Davison’s work with many heavyweights puts Fury’s criticism in perspective. Fury called Davison a “traitor”. “Of course he’s not,” Groves replied, suggesting Fury probably left Davison rather than the other way around and describing the back-and-forth as mostly banter.

The Fury-Joshua fight is also set to have the WBA ‘super’ belt at stake. Wardley considers the matchup worthy of a world title, while leaving it to the WBA to decide whether the two fighters fully deserve one. He hopes to earn a shot at the winner if he beats Dubois at The O2. Wardley also raised the possibility that the pair could go on to face heavyweights such as Filip Hrgovic or Agit Kabayel.