Ben Davison makes statement on split with Tyson Fury
Lineal heavyweight king Tyson Fury (29-0-1) has split from his influential trainer Ben Davison ahead of his rematch with Deontay Wilder, due to take place in February 2020 in Las Vegas.
Fury's trainer for his last five fights released the following statement on the shock parting, "Obviously it’s not gonna stop until there’s an answer, Tyson and myself had to both make decisions for our careers, which resulted in our working relationship coming to an end, HOWEVER, we remain friends and he will SMASH the DOSSER!!"
No indication has been given as to who Fury will bring in to train him ahead of the eagerly anticipated clash with rival Wilder, but rumours are already curculating that it will be Manny Pacquiao's long-term trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach was assisting in the corner with Davison when Fury and Wilder first met in LA as they battled to an enthralling draw back in December 2018.
Uncharacteristically, the Wild Card Gym trainer was openly critical about Davison's tactics against 'The Bronze Bomber', which had the WBC world heavyweight belt on the line. Fury outboxed the home fighter for the largest parts of the fight, but Davison warned Fury to stay smart and box clever, staying away from the champion's raw power, whereas Roach wanted to urge the Briton to step it up a gear and finish Wilder inside the distance.
Despite the criticism, Davison has played a pivotal role in Fury's career and helped the 31-year-old overcome issues with his mental health, drink and drugs prior to his return to the ring.
Under his watch Fury lost a whopping eight stone in weight as he looked to make his way back to the top of the heavyweight division.
The dramatic change, Davison claimed, was as much to do with keeping Fury mentally active as it was physically in an attempt to prevent distractions entering his life.
Prior to taking on the role of Fury's trainer, Davison, who boxed as an amateur, worked with long-time friend and two-weight world champion Billy Joe Saunders.
Relatively unknown outside of boxing circles before their union, he was attributed to Tyson's dramatic weight loss after suffering with depression and drug abuse following his shock win over long-reigning heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in 2015.
Despite winning four world tites in an incredible one-sided victory against a champion who hadn't lost in a decade, which covered 22 fights, Fury was spurned by the media on his return to the UK and spiralled into depression and drug and alcohol-fuelled binges, which resulted in him ballooning up to 28 stone in weight.
Davison began to train with Fury and helped him shed the many excess pounds in a dramatic transformation as he headed back to the ring to reclaim hs heavyweight world titles which he never lost in a ring.
With Davison in his corner, 'The Gypsy King' remained unbeaten with four wins and one draw, taking his record up to 30 fights undefeated.