‘You don’t believe in your fighter’ – Team Conlan accuse Ben Davidson of having no faith in Leigh Wood
Team Conlan accused controversial coach Ben Davidson of having no faith in his own fighter at a feisty press conference in Nottingham today.
Davidson will man the corner of WBA ‘regular’ champion Leigh Wood [25(15)-2] during his March 12 defence against Belfast’s Michael Conlan [16(8)-0].
Speaking in Nottingham at the first of two press conferences this week, the Conlan brothers claimed the British coach lacked belief in the champion.
Both accused the young trainer of backing Reece Mould to beat Wood when they meet for the British featherweight title in early 2021.
Davidson wasn’t working with the Nottingham fighter ahead of the fight mentioned, a fight Wood won by ninth-round stoppage, but both Michael and Jamie Conlan claim he told people in Sky Sports that Mould would be too good for the fighter he coached to a brilliant win over Xu Can at Fight Camp.
“You didn’t believe he’d win the Reece Mould fight. You don’t believe in your fighter. You believe in his power but you don’t believe in him as a fighter,” Micheal Conlan said.
Jamie Conlan added: “You told people in Sky Reece Mould was going to win. You told Sky Leigh wouldn’t be able to adapt to his style.”
🗣️ “You told people you didn't think Lee would win the Reece Mould fight! “ – @mickconlan11 👀#WoodConlan
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) January 19, 2022
Watch live: https://t.co/9B3NPNlP6f pic.twitter.com/ARW1kEtRNy
Davidson, who has worked with Tyson Fury and coaches Josh Taylor, denied the claims and said he declared it would be a tough fight for Wood.
It was another offensive move from Team Conlan, who have no issue trying to get under the skin of opponents.
Wood claims he is aware of the tactic and sees it as a weakness on the challenger’s behalf.
“Social media wise, it seems like he’s got all of Team Conlan trying to rattle me, but it is what it is, I give what I get. He can do what he wants to try and throw me off, but I just see it as a weakness, trying to get any advantage he can – it’s not going to work one bit but do that opposite.
“This fight is everything to me. I don’t need to discredit him, tell him what he wasn’t done or performances, I know what I’m capable of and I know what I can do, I’m going to go out and do it – set up a massive fight, my dream fight at the City Ground.”
Photo Credit Mark Robinson Matchroom
