Former Olympic champion Audley Harrison, who won gold at the Sydney 2000 Games before going on to have a largely disappointing professional career, has delivered sharp criticism of Ben Davison, the trainer of Moses Itauma. In Harrison’s view, Davison failed to give the young heavyweight the right advice during last Saturday’s world title fight against Filip Hrgovic.
Harrison said:
“Moses dared to be great. [Were] his tactics correct? No. I thought the same thing when [Anthony Joshua] boxed [Daniel] Dubois, so from the coaching perspective, I don’t think Ben is tactically getting it right in these big fights.
“If you’ve never boxed, how can you guide a fighter through [a fight like] that? I know Ben boxed a little as an amateur, but the optics (his lens) is off, and it’s becoming a liability for his fighters.
“Moses can’t just bounce back like nothing happened; he’s going to need time to reflect and his closest circle will need to help him find his joy and overcome this setback.”
Audley Harrison boxed professionally from 2001 to 2013, compiling a record of 31 wins and 7 losses, with 23 victories coming by knockout. Despite the enormous expectations surrounding him, he never earned a shot at a world title.
The finest achievement of his professional career came in 2010, when he captured the European heavyweight title by knocking out fellow Briton Michael Sprott in the final round of a fight in which Harrison had been trailing comfortably on the scorecards.