From a semi-professional footballer to one of the leading trainers in professional boxing, Ben Davison speaks to Adam Catterall about his remarkable journey to the top.
Ben Davison has taken a far from conventional route to the summit of the boxing coaching code.
Once on the books of local football team Stevenage Borough - with aspirations of turning professional - he’d have never imaged that less than two decades later he’d be one of the most revered and decorated British trainers of all-time.
But through hard work, grit and sheer determination, that’s exactly where the former semi-professional footballer finds himself.
Renowned for his highly-publicised work in helping reinvigorate lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury during the Morecambe man’s darkest hour, Davison has enjoyed immense success in his field since opting to walk away from the sport that he once loved most.
After accepting that a career in football was unlikely to come to fruition, he originally spent time helping fighters hone their skills on a voluntary basis in a local Hertfordshire gym, as well as turning his own hand to amateur boxing too.
But it soon became apparent that his skills lay in analysing and advising, and not fighting!
His big coaching break actually came with former sparring partner Billy Joe-Saunders, for whom he helped shape into a world champion in the infancy of his coaching years.
Davison has since gone on to establish himself as one of the most adept, analytical and forward-thinking coaches in the business; and somebody who has already worked with a plethora of the biggest names in the fighting game.
On the back of his work with Billy-Joe and Tyson Fury, Davison subsequently played instrumental roles in helping Josh Taylor and Devin Haney gain undisputed greatness, as well as, arguably most proudly, masterminding Leigh Wood’s remarkable rise to the summit of the featherweight division.
His relentless pursuit for greatness elevated his stock to a previously unimaginable height; so much so, that Anthony Joshua recently came calling for his services.
The pair have since linked-up, with Davison tasked with helping fine-tune the Watford fighter’s preparations for the forthcoming Francis Ngannou showdown, and, longer term, to aid his quest of joining an exclusive list of blue-riband division greats to have become three-time world champions.
So, sit back, relax and listen to Adam Catterall’s enthralling 40-minute conversation with Davison, as the esteemed boxing coach goes ‘Full Circle’ in the latest instalment of our hugely popular video series.