Ohara Davies grateful for the guidance and support of Anthony Joshua

Ohara Davies has spoken of his appreciation for Anthony Joshua and the support the former heavyweight champion has given him throughout his career.

Davies returns to the ring on Saturday in Ghana after a short-lived retirement and the London welterweight has nothing but respect for what Joshua has done for the sport in England.

“He put British boxing on the map,” said the 33-year-old. “And listen, AJ’s been a savior and he’s been a strong influence in my boxing career too, because I’ve trained in the same gym as him for years and I fought on a few of his undercards. Listen, in one of my fights when I was meant to fight and get a certain amount and then when it was time to get paid, I got more money than I was meant to get because AJ made sure that I got more money than what I was being offered… And just a few small gestures like that, AJ goes out of his way to help everyone.

“AJ’s got a real clean heart. A lot of people, they let the fame get to them. The more famous he gets, the more humble he gets. AJ’s someone I can phone anytime. I can phone him now and get help from him. It’s not like, ‘Oh, I’m busy.’

“He’s never too busy for anyone. And he's one of a kind because anyone that gets the kind of status and the power that he's got, they don’t have that mindset. And AJ’s a very humble guy. I wish him all the success in the world.”

Joshua is nursing an arm injury before an expected return in the next few months. He has not boxed since a September defeat to Daniel Dubois.
Davies cultivated an image where fans loved to hate him, so he is often booed to the ring. For Joshua, there is an expectation that he needs to be at his best each time, and anything less is a failure.

The pressure on him has always been immense, since claiming gold at his home Olympics in London back in 2012. But Davies contends that the pressure AJ is under is not related to money, but to delivering in the ring.

“He’s got enough money,” Davies explained. “Even if he weren’t being paid to fight, he would still fight. A lot of us, the motivation is to get money, to be rich, drive nice cars… the main motivation for him is to be the best, to be world champion.”

However, there are plenty who see Joshua’s defeat to Dubois as a changing of the guard, and one that coincided with Davies losing to another twenty-something in Adam Azim last year before announcing he was retired.

“The first time I met Azim, he was about nine years old,” recalled Davies. “Like, literally a little kid. And I just fought against him and I lost. The same thing when you look at AJ's last fight against Daniel Dubois. I remember being up in Sheffield when AJ was the world champion and he used to spar Joe Joyce. This is a bit before even Joe Joyce turned pro. He used to spar Joyce, Daniel Dubois, Lawrence Okolie. He used to spar all of them. He used to help. AJ would go and spar three rounds each and he’d help them out and they’ll help him out. 

“As we’re getting older, we are on a decline and these young guys are now on the increase and he's still got the desire to be the best. But it's harder. And every year that goes by, it becomes harder and harder and harder.”

Davies said he only has “a vague understanding” of the pressure Joshua must find himself under because it’s so great.

And Joshua’s celebrity status and wealth means that envy is never far behind.

Davies reckons that, in victory everyone praises a winner, but in defeat, they might receive sympathy while being condemned under the same person’s breath.

“They’ll say, ‘Oh, I wanted you to win.’ But behind your back, they’re saying, ‘Oh, he’s useless. He’s washed up and he’s done,’ and all the rest of it. A lot of people don’t like him. They’re jealous of him. So many people, you know, they're jealous of him. People that I know, people that we both know and that we've trained with and, you know, people that he gave money to. And a lot of people don't really want to see him win. And I've noticed this. It’s not only from seeing what’s happening in my boxing career. I look at AJ's boxing career and if these people can be so invested in him, if they can love him so much at one point and now they hate him and they want him to lose, I can’t expect any better from them. It's just people.”