Billy Joe Saunders corner row escalates as ex-trainer explains his role

The row over Billy Joe Saunders' corner pulling him from his fight with Canelo Alvarez has escalated further after a detailed social media post from trainer Ben Davison.

Saunders' head coach Mark Tibbs claimed in a Twitter post that Davison was 'not in our training camp' for the build-up to the fight, and that Davison 'blew down his earhole' before they decided to end the contest.

The 31-year-old British fighter was undefeated heading into the massive matchup, which had an attendance of over 73,000 fans in Dallas, Texas, but had to get surgery following injuries inflicted by his Mexican opponent.

And top trainer Ben Davison, who cornered Tyson Fury for the first half of his incredible boxing comeback, took to Facebook to argue back against Tibbs' critiques.

In a lengthy post to his personal page, Davison appeared to mock Tibbs' tweet, where he claimed he wanted to 'clarify' some details around the stoppage. Davison said: "Just to 'clarify' a few things, I was approached by Billy Joe Saunders as soon as the fight was made.

"He came down to my gym to discuss and go over the fight, which Mark knows. I was then also asked and approached to do some sessions with him when landed in Vegas for Josh Taylor’s fight.

"I was then also asked to assist in the corner on the night, which I obliged… The fighter clearly values my input, the fighter himself can confirm all of the above.

"In the corner I was often asked for my input from mark by the way of 'Ben? What do you think?' Or other similar things said which is why at times I was vocal.

"During the last interactions in the corner, in my opinion the reason Billy Joe Saunders put in his statement, which to be clear was HIS statement, that came from HIM, in which HE says I was the one who got the corner to pull the fight was because he feels there was hesitancy from Mark about stopping the fight.

"This was shown when he said 'I'm giving you one more round' which as a friend and as a coach wasn’t an option considering the extent of the injury.

"Of course in the end Mark waved it off, but before that I felt in that situation someone needed to get a grip of the situation (which is why I whispered in his ear) and from Billy Joe Saunders' statement it seems HE feels that came from myself (his words, not mine)."

Davison went on to criticize how the aftermath of the fight was handled from Team Saunders, and reminding his readers that he was fully focused on Josh Taylor's upcoming fight this Saturday against Jose Ramirez in Vegas.

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