Fabio Wardley's trainer explained his decision not to throw in the towel during his fighter's punishing loss to Daniel Dubois in their world heavyweight title fight.
Dubois was crowned as the new WBO champion after climbing off the canvas twice to stop Wardley in the 11th round of
In social media posts on Sunday, Wardley's trainer firstly confirmed that "most importantly Fabio is OK" and then revealed why he did not halt the fight himself before referee Howard Foster waved it off.
Ben Davison wrote: "On last night - Firstly congrats to Dubois.
"Two tremendous warriors in a modern-day classic. We are super proud of Fabio.
"I actually agree the fight could [have] been stopped earlier.
"I did not see Fabio stumble before walking over to the doctor at the start of round 10 as ironically we were discussing with each other to 'have the towel in hand' by which time he had gone over and seen the doctor and seemed much steadier on his legs which is what we saw.
"It's such a difficult job to not only find a balance but to strike at the right time to stop a fight like that on a whim when your guy is responsive and firing back.
"I've been praised for not towelling Fury (Wilder). I was praised for not towelling Wood (Conlan). I was firstly criticised then later praised for towelling Wood (Lara).
"Two occasions we looked at it but one, the end of the round came [and] two, Fabio fired back and killed Dubois' momentum. Again very difficult in the circumstances of the fighter being responsive and firing back.
"I've seen mixed opinions on this one but I agree it COULD [have] been stopped earlier. However, with that said I think Howard Foster got it bang on from his terms."
On Wardley, Davison said: "Very easy to forget what Fabio has achieved.
"From four white collar fights to heavyweight champion of the world. Not an easy task to do or for us to help guide against the best in the world.
"Never been done before, never be done again."
