War Says What Others Whisper
Right then. Derek Chisora has gone on the Fight Your Corner podcast and done what half of British boxing has been doing in private since Saturday night — pointed the finger at Ben Davison. The difference is Del did it out loud, and with the language filter switched off. His verdict on the trainer who took Moses Itauma to Riyadh: unrepeatable, but it rhymed with "hit". His verdict on Itauma: "OK, when you box taxi drivers."
Make no mistake, it is a brutal take on a 21-year-old who lost his first fight. But Chisora has been in with everyone from Tyson Fury to Oleksandr Usyk, and he has earned the right to have an opinion on what a real heavyweight looks like.
The Bubble Argument
Chisora's case is that Davison's stable has been quietly unravelling for nine months. He says he told the trainer in Monaco last December, after one of his fighters lost, that "the bubble is going to blow up now". Then Fabio Wardley lost the WBO title to Daniel Dubois. Then a British title went. And now Itauma — the golden ticket, the kid who was meant to be the second-youngest heavyweight champion in history — got walked down and stopped in the ninth by Filip Hrgovic. Throw in Anthony Joshua leaving Davison after the Dubois knockout and, on paper, it is a grim run.
Is It Fair?
Let's not beat around the bush — partly. Davison is not a bad trainer. He got Fury off the sofa and to a draw with Deontay Wilder when Fury was a shell, and he has built proper fighters at every weight. But there is a pattern in his heavyweights this year, and it is the same pattern every time: they start brilliantly, and when the opponent survives the first storm they have no second plan. Wardley against Dubois. Itauma against Hrgovic. Both dominant early, both spent by the middle rounds, both stopped.
That is where Chisora is dead right. "You can't cheat boxing," he said, and the line about Itauma not going to his jab when the knockout does not come is the most honest thing anyone has said about Saturday. Itauma has seven fights and a first-round knockout reel. He was never taught to win a hard round nine, because until Riyadh he had never needed to.
Where Chisora Is Wrong
Where Del loses me is "we are both on the same level". No, Derek. Itauma at 21 has more natural ability than Chisora had at any point in a 50-fight career, and losing to a Hrgovic who has been at world level for years is not the disgrace people are making it. Hrgovic was levels above on the night — that does not make Itauma a fraud. It makes him a kid who was fast-tracked into a world title fight before his corner had taught him what to do when Plan A fails.
Luke's Verdict
Davison has a chance to answer all of this on October 17 when Wardley rematches Dubois. If Wardley goes out and boxes twelve rounds with a jab and a plan, the "bubble" talk dies. If he goes out swinging and gets stopped again, then Chisora will look like a prophet and Itauma's people will have a decision to make. My prediction: Wardley loses again, and Itauma has a new head coach by Christmas. If you know, you know. Keep it on our news page for the fallout.