EDINBURGH, Scotland – It’s just as well that Ben Davison is only 29 years old because youth is definitely a plus when you’re on his schedule.

The Essex-based trainer arrived in the Scottish capital on Tuesday for the Josh Taylor-Jack Catterall press conference following a 5,000 mile flight from Las Vegas the day prior. Next Saturday he’ll be in Dubai to work the corner of middleweight prospect Mark Dickinson before heading back to the U.K. for Christmas. Hectic to say the least but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Davison was in Sin City to work the corner of unbeaten WBC lightweight titleholder Devin Haney at the MGM Grand. His charge recorded his fourth successful defense, claiming a wide unanimous decision win over former 130-pound titleholder Joseph Diaz Jr.

“It was a solid victory for Devin,” Davison told The Ring. “Jo Jo’s no mug and that’s another former world champion on Devin’s resume. I think that’s the third [former champion] at 23 years of age.

“I knew the moment the bell rang [to end the fight] that it was a wide points victory, but I knew that Devin wouldn’t be satisfied with his performance. He has that perfectionist-type mentality where even if he gets hit with a single shot that he didn’t think he should have been hit with, he wants to put that right. But that’s the mindset you need and to have that mindset at 23 years of age, after the success he’s already had, says a lot about him.”

Devin Haney and Joseph Diaz Jr. engaged in a high-quality lightweight title bout. Photo by Ed Mulholland/ Matchroom Boxing

Haney’s triumph follows on from George Kambosos’ sensational 12-round split decision win over Teofimo Lopez in New York last weekend. The plan now is for both men to come together and consolidate the various pieces of the lightweight puzzle. In just one fight, Australia’s Kambosos picked up the Ring Magazine championship as well as IBF, WBA and WBO 135-pound titles.

“The goal is to have a solidified man – the man – at every weight,” offered Davison. “Everyone complains that there are too many belts in boxing and to nullify that we need to get the George Kambosos-Devin Haney fight; the Tank Davis-Lomachenko fight; Tank Davis-Ryan Garcia. We need to start bringing these lightweights together.

“There’s talks about [Kambosos-Haney] potentially being in America but money talks and bullshit walks. We’ll need to see where it’s going to make the most money. You have time differences, broadcasters – that’s where a lot of the money’s produced – so we’ll have to see.”

It’s becoming customary for the sport to shoot itself in the foot when it comes to undisputed title fights. Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wilder could have decided the heavyweight debate. It’s gone! There was another chance with an all-British showdown between Tyson Fury and Joshua. For the moment, that’s gone!

There are a lot of stumbling blocks when it comes to putting together a fight for all the marbles, but the most irritating issues for fight fans is divaship and ego. We want this split! We want that split! We want options! We want a rematch clause! We’re the A-side! You’re the B-side… bla, bla, bla.

Despite the fact that Haney has been on the world scene for a longer period of time than Kambosos, it was refreshing to hear that the Las Vegas-based Californian was accepting the B-side distinction for this potential matchup. That decision alone will make the fight a lot easier to make.

“There’s a certain persona that people expect Devin to have but he’s actually a brilliant lad to work with and he has a fantastic mindset,” said Davison. “He’s very coachable, very humble, and those aren’t qualities that people associate with him.

“For him to recognize that Kambosos had that big win and the momentum’s with him, just goes to show that making the fight is more important than ego. But Devin is a completely different ball game [for Kambosos.] Teofimo’s obviously strong, but I think his punch power is overestimated to a degree. I’m sure he can punch a bit, but Devin’s skillset is a problem for anybody.”

Time will tell on Kambosos-Haney.

Photo courtesy of Top Rank

Taylor’s Scotland versus England clash against Catterall will mark the first time that a British fighter has defended an undisputed championship on British soil for over four decades (Alan Minter L TKO 3 Marvelous Marvin Hagler in September 1980).

The Edinburgh man has set himself a goal of becoming a two-weight world titleholder, but Davison was quick to point out that the undisputed junior welterweight king has time on his side.

“Anybody that sees Josh, like if you ask Devin, he said, ‘Oh my God, he’s huge!’” said Davison in relation to Taylor’s 5-foot-10 frame and overall size. “And when [Terence] Crawford looked at Josh, you could see him thinking, ‘Wow, he’s a big boy!’ He is a big boy, but I’ve got to be honest, he makes weights comfortably. If Josh wanted to stay at 140 he could do, but he does have the goal of becoming a two-weight world champion.”

And what type of fight does Davison expect from Catterall?

“It’s not too dissimilar from the [Regis] Prograis fight,” offered the trainer. “Jose Ramirez was always gonna take risks and that’s how I knew we were gonna clip him on the way in. Ramirez was physical, big, strong and had a good engine, but he was reckless. Jack’s a little more [technically] sound than that and he won’t be rushing through transitions of distance like Ramirez. Without going into too much detail it’s a completely different from our last one but not too dissimilar from a Prograis-type style.”

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Tom Gray is Managing Editor for Ring Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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