After Dubois Debacle, Paul Smith Urges Anthony Joshua To Dump Ben Davison And Seek New Team, Criticizing ‘Roll The Dice’ Strategy

Pundit Paul Smith says former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua needs to dump trainer Ben Davison and get a whole new team around him to help turn his career around.

Paul doesn’t like the corner advice Davison gave Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) going into the fifth round of his fight against IBF champion Daniel Dubois on September 21st last year at Wembley Stadium.

“Roll the Dice” Backlash

Davison foolishly told AJ to “Roll the dice” and go for broke instead of having him play it safe to tire out Daniel. Joshua had already been dropped three times in the fight, getting put down in the first, third, and fourth rounds. It was nutty for Ben to watch AJ bum rush a fresh Dubois in the fifth after what he’d been through in the four previous rounds.

Joshua replaced Rob McCracken as his coach after his first loss to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021, a 12-round decision defeat. That loss was small stuff compared to the massacre that we saw last September with Joshua getting plundered by Dubois, and left in a pile on the canvas.

It makes sense for AJ to fire Davison after a much worse defeat, with his career hanging by a thread. Joshua can’t afford another loss due to bad coaching advice.

“What I did see against Dubois was bad advice from the corner. Ben Davison is a good trainer. He takes the credit. He’s admitted the cornerwork was bad,” said Paul Smith to talkSport Boxing, talking about Anthony Joshua’s corner advice in his fifth round knockout loss to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21st.

“To tell Joshua to go for it when Dubois was still very much live. He told him to roll the dice when he’d already been dropped three times.”

“It’s just recovery. He’s getting himself back in it a little bit,” said Spencer Oliver about Joshua.

“Just bull s*** yourself through the fight in the next two or three rounds. Let Dubois tire himself out because he’s fighting on nerves, Dubois is. Then you’ve got a better chance. I think he needs to change his team and get a good trainer around him,” said Smith about AJ.