Heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua may have to take the biggest fight of his life – and arguably in the history of heavyweight boxing against Tyson Fury- without his trainer and mentor, Rob McCracken.
Rob McCracken, 52, is the head of boxing for Team GB, where he first discovered Joshua and the Tokyo Olympics this summer clashes with the proposed dates for the AJ vs Tyson Fury undisputed heavyweight title fight.
According to Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, three dates are being looked at for Joshua vs Fury – July 24, July 31 and August 7 – with Saudi Arabia set to be confirmed as the host country.
While the Olympics runs from Friday, July 23 to Sunday, August 8.
Eddie Hearn(pictured below) claims the fight is bigger than the Olympics and Joshua will just have to deal with it if he can’t have McCracken in his corner.
Hearn told the Independent: “We don’t have a choice. There are too many people and things to fit around already with the fighters, trainers, countries, time zones, the Olympics.
“There is all this stuff to plan so whatever date we are given by the site is the date that we will go with. Someone is spending a lot of money so we have to go whenever they say.
“The plan is to plan accordingly, I know AJ and Rob have been talking accordingly so I am sure they will work it out.
“It will depend on timings, the date we get given is when the fight takes place and the guys know it will be around the Olympics, it could be inappropriate but it is the biggest fight in boxing and the biggest moment in AJ’s career so we have to work it out.”
When it was put to Hearn that McCracken may decide to miss the Olympics in favour of a more lucrative trip with Joshua, the promoter said: “I know Rob takes his position very seriously, he loves the job and the kids so it’s not ideal but we can’t move it a couple of weeks either side.”
Hearn continued: “The Olympics will be a different timezone so it’s not really in the mindset with our scheduling. I know the Olympics is a huge event but I see them very differently.
“I know a lot of people won’t agree with me but I personally see this as bigger than the Olympics. I just feel it is bigger than the Olympics, for Britain, because the world will stop to watch and it’s between two Brits.
“It’s impossible to schedule anything without clashing with something, it’s impossible so we will go on the date we are told to go on. It will be peak time UK, middle of the night in Tokyo so there will not be a TV clash.”
Joshua has in the past compared McCracken to the great Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the past cLling him his mento
Joshua told Sky Sports: “Rob is a gaffer – I look at him like Sir Alex Ferguson. Great manager, great trainer, great experience.”
“Me and Rob conquered the international stage as amateurs. Then I turned pro and me and Rob conquered the world.”
