TYSON Fury’s former trainer Ben Davison has revealed exactly how his old charge can avoid getting knocked out by Deontay Wilder on Saturday.
The Bronze Bomber – who rematches Davison’s ex-fighter Tyson Fury on Saturday – has 41 KO’s in 43 fights, giving him a heavyweight record of 97 per cent stoppages.
Ben Davison explained Deontay Wilder sets up knockout punches by reacting to his opponents stepping towards himCredit: Getty Images – Getty
And Davison explained to BT Sport that the WBC champion will react whenever his opponent makes a move towards him with their front foot, ultimately walking on to a devastating right hand.
Using a clip of Wilder’s 2018 KO win against Luis Ortiz, the young trainer said: “If you notice Luis Ortiz’s front foot and the timing of when he lifts this foot up, Wilder shoots his shot, the moment (Ortiz) lifts his front foot up to step in, Wilder fires.
“This is a common factor in Wilder knockouts. The moment you step your front foot to him, he commits, and he knows he’s quicker with a longer reach and he will hit the target.
“The moment you step towards him, he’ll meet you.”
In the rematch Ortiz had bossed Wilder, 34, for seven rounds until a right hand left the tricky Cuban southpaw out for the count.
Similarly the Bronze Bomber waited for Ortiz to step towards him, but used a measured jab to gauge his range before firing in an unstoppable right hand.
When asked if Wilder consciously knows when his opponent will step into punching range, Davison replied: “I don’t know if he consciously does it or sub-consciously does it but he did it with Breazeale.
“The moment Breazeale lifted his front foot up and stepped towards him he threw and nailed him.
“The moment Stiverne lifted his front foot up, he nailed him. And the same with Ortiz here, same with Szpilka before.
“When you see Ortiz step in with a double jab trying to push Wilder back, as people say Wilder can’t box on the backfoot, there’s not being able to box on the back foot.
“If you notice in all the clips his posture is the same; he slightly sits over with his back foot bent and his right hand is in between his nipple and his hip.”
Davison also revealed Wilder was quick to react when noticing a Fury touched his nose in their fight, a bad habit the trainer believes caused the Gyspy King to twice be floored against the champion.
He explained: “What Wilder does is he bounces on the spot, not back and forward, but on the spot and it’s a mental reset.
“For Tyson, it’s when he touches his face and wipes his nose and I know Wilder worked on that and went to throw.
“Something happened at the end of the eighth round: when Tyson got hit with a right hand on the top of his head, he wiped his nose, touched his face, a bit of a reset.
“Then in the 12th there was space behind Tyson to step into to take the distance away but he didn’t do it, and I believe it was a single lapse in concentration because of the habit.
“It’s something to be aware of; when he’s training and he does it, add a step on it or add a reset where he moves, changes position and it takes it away.
“It’s something Wilder’s team was aware of and worked on.”
Tyson Fury was twice dropped by WBC champion WilderCredit: AP:Associated Press
Wilder scored a stunning knockout against Dominic BreazealeCredit: AP:Associated Press
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
