That’s weird to hear, right? When your disciple has carved out a reputation for knocking out his opponents, you should be enjoying those visuals of fighters hitting the man till they fall flat. But not Gervonta Davis‘ long-time trainer, Calvin Ford. The famed coach doesn’t appreciate the visuals of boxers going cold, lying face flat on the canvas. Why is that?

Ford sat down with TBISE and had a heartfelt conversation where he disclosed many unknown facts and tales about his star student, ‘Tank’. While disclosing some interesting incidents, he also shared a piece of amusing information about himself—he is an old-schooler who doesn’t like knockouts. Rather, the American coach enjoys long, enduring fights where heavy punishment is unloaded.

Recalling Davis’ sparring session with a Russian fighter, when he was young, and how it ended swiftly, Ford said, “Man, he hit that dude one time, boom, dropped. He looked at his hands, looked at me. I said, ‘Oh my God.’ That’s why I don’t like knockouts. I don’t like knockouts, I don’t like it, I like punishing.”

Following this, the Baltimore native believed a fighter should remember the punishment they suffered as their toughest fight, not the outcome or the fighter himself. Calvin Ford continued, “I like punishment. I’m old school, I’m like, this when the Joker sitting in front of the camera they say, ‘Oh, what’s your worst fight you ever had?’ I want them to say, ‘Man, Tank punish me’. That’s what I want to hear.”

While Ford might not witness Davis dishing out much punishment as he prefers to knock them out, he is content with whatever he sees from the corner. Interestingly, the Baltimore native then also disclosed how Davis, 29, had a similar fear of facing the brunt of heavy punches from pro gloves during his transition from amateur to pro.

Gervonta Davis feared getting hit before turning pro

In the same conversation. Ford went down memory lane and detailed how they were at nationals, but Davis didn’t like the idea of turning pro after seeing the pro gloves. He admitted, “One day we was at the Nationals, and he seen the size of the [pro] gloves. He said, ‘I ain’t never going pro. Ain’t nobody hitting me with them.’ So, I said, ‘Yo, you got to go pro one day, man’.”

Gervonta Davis, despite the trepidations, made his pro debut in 2013 with a KO against Desi Williams. Years have passed since, and now he finds himself mentioned among the top knockout artists of modern boxing. Calvin Ford deserves the credit for inculcating ruthlessness in him when mixed with Davis’ power, making the lightweight boxer into a knockout machine. What do you make of these comments by Davis’ trainer? Let us know in the comments below.