Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 25-0 (18) has revealed the bizarre lengths his new trainer Ben Davison had to go to in order to get the job.
The former WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion, who hasn’t fought for two-and-a-half years, left his trainer and uncle Peter Fury late last year as he embarked on his comeback. And as he interviewed potential trainers for the role, he set rookie coach Davison a particular task to see if he was up for the job.
“I went down to Marbella and saw Ben training some boxers,” Fury told the Sunday Times. “I was impressed with the way he worked and told him that he would be one of the world’s best trainers within five years.
“Now I like to test people’s limitations, see if they’re game and confident. If you’re going to train somebody like me you have to be confident.
“I was having coffee with Ben down at Puerto Banus and there were two very attractive girls walking down the front in bikinis. So I said, ‘Ben, if you go up to those girls and ask for their number, if you get it, you can be my trainer.’
“He was straight up and after them. Two minutes later he was back, waving a piece of paper, saying, ‘Here, I’ve got their number.’ I said, ‘Deal done, you’re my trainer.'”
This week it was announced that Fury would face unknown Albanian Sefer Seferi 23-1 (21) in his comeback fight on June 9 at Manchester Arena.
Despite his glossy record the 39-year-old Seferi is a natural cruiserweight whose ledger consists almost exclusively of European journeymen. The sole recognisable name is Manuel Charr, who Seferi lost to on points in September 2016.