Former super-middleweight champion, Carl Froch, has given his thoughts as to why Anthony Joshua’s relationship with long-time trainer Rob McCracken broke down.
Froch’s ex-coach, McCracken, trained Joshua ever since he turned professional in 2013, but the two split after his first loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
‘AJ’ revealed after the fight that he felt let down by his cornermen, who he claims failed to tell him he was behind in the fight, leading to surprise when Usyk was announced as the winner.
As a result, Joshua appointed Robert Garcia as his new head trainer for the rematch, but although an improved performance, it was the same result.
Now the 33-year-old is hoping he’s found a more permanent coach in Derrick James, who boasts an impressive stable of fighters, including Errol Spence Jr, Jermell Charlo and now Ryan Garcia.
Froch believes a ‘key’ reason the relationship with McCracken fell apart was that the former heavyweight champion didn’t always listen to his coach and would question the instructions given to him.
Speaking on his Froch on Fighting YouTube channel, ‘The Cobra’ said:
“I would say he should have stayed with Rob McCracken and sorted out any beef they had.
I don’t think AJ should have left him. I think that if he would have stayed with Rob McCracken and listened to him, that’s the key difference here, I used to listen to Rob and when he told me something or gave me any advice, I did it without question.
Now, I don’t think that was happening with AJ, because he always questions things, he is quite an inquisitive guy. He lost twice to Usyk, he’s a great fighter, there’s no shame in losing to him.
I just think that the tactics and the way that he went about the rematch, I think that if he was with Rob McCracken, and he would have listened to him and his experience, and executed a game plan, then the result could have been different.”
Joshua returned to the ring in April for the fist time since those back-to-back defeats to Usyk with a unanimous decision victory over Jermaine Franklin.
Whilst Joshua’s debut under Derrick James wasn’t the statement performance he would have wanted, it was his first win for over two years and keeps him in contention for mega fights against the top names in the division.