Anthony Joshua's coach breaks silence over Daniel Dubois fight corner drama
Joshua suffered a brutal knockout in the fifth round last September - and his team have come under fire for their advice during the heavyweight dust-up
Anthony Joshua 's trainer Ben Davison has finally explained his controversial "roll the dice" advice during the Daniel Dubois fight.
The former two-time heavyweight champion was knocked out by Dubois last September in front of a sold out Wembley Stadium. Joshua was knocked down multiple times before being stopped in the fifth round. Heading into the fifth, Davison told 'AJ' to "roll the dice" and unleash the right uppercut.
Joshua came out guns blazing in the fifth round and rocked Dubois before eventually being caught with a left hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Reacting to the stoppage, Shane McGuigan was very critical, stating: "I think that is dangerous advice there to be honest, getting him to bring it up (uppercut) off the double jab," he said of Davison's instructions.
"Daniel throws that right hand straight off that double jab, he is going to walk straight on to a short right hand. If you ask me, I would say keep your hands up tight and get through these next few rounds." Responding to McGuigan's claims, Davison told talkSPORT: "He is saying that Daniel puts a right hand behind the double jab. He would be 100 per cent correct.
"But we have asked AJ to throw a double jab and bring it up the middle (uppercut). Daniel was defending AJ's right hand by ducking underneath it. Therefore, if he is ducking underneath your right hand, then the correct adjustment is to dip him onto the right uppercut."
When asked what he meant by his "roll the dice" order, Davison replied: "The roll the dice is something he has worked on throughout camp, which is throw the double jab and bring it up through the middle. Against Hrgovic, he was regularly getting underneath Hrgovic's right hand.
"Hrgovic then started to throw an uppercut, but he didn't bring his feet in close enough to deliver the shot. Roll the dice didn't actually mean go out there and take [one to give one]. What we meant was that it's something you have worked on and you haven't thrown it throughout the fight."
It looked likely that Joshua and Dubois would go head-to-head in an immediate rematch, but 'AJ' suffered some minor injuries in the initial encounter that forced him to take some time away from the ring. 'AJ' is targeting a return to the ring before the end of the year after having elbow surgery.
His promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that his star client could return anytime between October and December. 'AJ' is still targeting an all-British showdown with Tyson Fury amid talks of the 'Gypsy King' potentially making a stunning return to action. Hearn himself is still holding out hope that Fury will make a retirement U-turn and fight his star client. The Boxing promoter told DAZN: "It's probably three fights away. For me, if I'm advising AJ, we're back this year, we have two Tyson Fury fights, what else is there to do? Maybe fight a Daniel Dubois, but for me once AJ fights Tyson Fury, he's kind of done it all.
"I'd love him to have another crack at Daniel Dubois and I'd love him to have another crack at Usyk but you just keep going on and on and on. Now, if we get to next year and he's still firing on all cylinders then 2026 won't be his last year. But for me, something feels right about coming back this year, beating Tyson Fury twice and then sailing off into the sunset."
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