Thoughts about Robert McCracken’s advice & game plan given to Anthony Joshua?

[Enlightened-One]

There have been unsubstantiated rumours circulating the web today, specifically YouTube, suggesting that Anthony Joshua either has fired Robert McCracken or will do so soon. Even Lennox Lewis has suggested that it's time for the Brit to find a new coach.

I have also read lots of opinion piece articles from highly-experienced pundits claiming that one of the reasons for AJ’s defeat was due to his poor strategy.

Anyway, I decided to watch the AJ-Ruiz Jr. bout again to gauge whether Robert McCracken was giving Anthony Joshua poor advice and to also ascertain the actual strategy they were trying to adopt for this bout.

In my humble opinion, AJ listened to McCracken’s advice, but lacked the discipline to implement and maintain it for the entire three-minute duration of every round, either because he couldn’t, due to: lacking the prerequisite skills/ability; or lacking fitness; or lacking focus; or was prevented from doing so due to Andy Ruiz Jr’s superior boxing technique.

Anyway, here’s a transcript of the advice Robert McCracken gave to AJ during each one-minute interval…

End of Round One:
“Don't drop down to his height...

“Use your height and reach. He can't get past the jab, if you jab up and down. And he'll eventually walk onto the right hand.

“Be busier with the jab. Start shooting the odd one-two. Up on your toes, the odd one-two.

“Keep him long. Don't look to throwing hooks yet. Jab, jab, back hand.”

End of Round Two:
“When he comes in, [time Ruiz on the way in] throw the right hand.

“Relax and use your feet when you're in range. Don't go flat-footed. Be busier with the jabs, up and down and then follow up with the right hand. Look to break him down with the left-rights, use your reach and keep your chin down. Every now and then, throw the hook off the jab.”

End of Round Three:
No footage of the corner.

End of Round Four:
“Keep throwing the jab and defend with head movement. Keep your hands up when you're boxing. Don't come down to his height. He caught you with the hook, because you're loading up.

“Keep your hands up. Jab, jab, right hand. You'll break him down.”

End of Round Five:
“All you've got to do is be a little bit busier. Box a little bit more. Stick to the jabs and right hand.

“Listen to me, you can win this fight. You can beat him with your reach. Jab, jab, right hand.

“Don't look for power, look to box, because you're walking onto his shots. Whenever you've looked for hooks, he caught you. Don't look for hooks, because you're loading up.

“Listen! You've got to win these rounds. Get boxing again! All straight stuff. Keep your hands up!”

End of Round Six:
“You've got to start throwing one-two's and shoot the odd bodyshot. You have to time him. And if you hit him, you'll slow him right down.

“Jab, jab, jab and right hand. Left and right, left and right long. Uppercut and hook when you're inside. Be busier though...”

Questions:

• What are your thoughts about the advice and game plan that Robert McCracken had provided to AJ?
• Why couldn’t Anthony Joshua implement it?
• Should AJ fire Robert McCracken and get himself a new trainer?

[Roars Like Me]

I didn't see any real issue with the advice that he gave. I don't think AJ was receptive to it. I could see AJ talking back to him and asking him what to do at times, but being buzzed in round 3, was a daze he couldn't get out of it seems.

The whole 'sack your trainer' when you lose a fight is ridiculous anyway. It standard patter for the press, fans, Lennox in this case to twat on about, post loss.

I don't know the stats on this sort of thing but when a trainer gets dropped after a loss, does the boxer do better or worse when they move on, who knows. It didn't work for Hatton if I remember correctly. In these instances, when fighters ditch their coaches, it seems to separate them from any blame, like it's solely the coach's fault, as opposed to 'prima dona' behaviour on the fighter's part.

[Boxerbeetle]

Nothing wrong with McCracken’s advice there at all. In fact, on the multiple threads we’ve had about ‘what does Joshua need to do in the rematch’, basically everyone has said exactly what McCracken was saying during the fight itself.

Whether Joshua is able to follow the instructions is, of course, another matter; he certainly wasn’t able to in the first fight

[keirw]

Joshua just wasn't prepared for a long, tough fight, for whatever reason.

As soon as he had Ruiz hurt he planted his feet and tried to get rid of him there and then, which back fired.

It took him a couple of rounds to recover, by which time he used up so much nervous energy he was too exhausted to keep fighting.

Very little of what Ruiz landed in the seventh landed clean, it was just the relentlessness of the attacks that was too much for Joshua.

In the corner when asked by the ref if he wanted to continue he said 'yes' but his body didn't move. It seems the head and heart were willing but the it was the body that gave up.

Not sure how much of that blame should be on Mckracken, if any.
He isn't the strength and conditioning trainer (whoever that is probably does need the sack tbf)

The gameplan seems sound on paper, and if Joshua had been a bit more astute defensively while trying to finish Ruiz in the third, he could well have gone on to win the fight and win it well.

I've said it before, it was a bad night at the office, he wasn't at his best and Ruiz was the better man on the night. No need for heads to roll.

If he loses the rematch, however, that would be a different story.

[Counter-puncher]

• Should AJ fire Robert McCracken and get himself a new trainer?

McCracken should fire AJ and get himself a new boxer, more like.

[coneye]

For me , Mcrackens advice in the corner was just basic boxing , ONLY thing i would disagree with is the up and down , why would you jab to the body against a hooker , you bring yourself into there range , better of with a jab , upercut when he's coming in ,

But regardless it does'nt matter about the advice in the corner if not 100% correct , it was getting there .. The reason Mckracken should be replaced , is,t on the night corner work , he's more than astute enough , its the preperation , the allowing AJ to become a big stiff robot , who cannot implement basic boxing skills because he's too big and bulky .

Every corner man knows how a taller bigger heavier puncher , should fight a smaller , intense counter puncher who's coming forward , Rob Mckrackens failure has been over a few years , where he has allowed , AJ to become muscle bound and lacking stamina ,

Seen a video of AJ recently , lookig good all muscle bound , touching the scientific pads up down left right , for eye hand , speed coordination , all very scientific , but really a load of bollocks that does'nt work , get back to old school sparring speed work , pad work , and bag work , alongside the arobic training , i've said it before fook off all the institute of sport scientists , and go find a old fashoined Eddie Futch

[Counter-puncher]

For me , Mcrackens advice in the corner was just basic boxing , ONLY thing i would disagree with is the up and down , why would you jab to the body against a hooker , you bring yourself into there range ,

to be fair I don't recall him being countered off that admittedly crap jab to the body he was throwing, although i agree it was a risk and could be he just got away with it

[Counter-puncher]

and you're right, he definitely has waaaaay too many trainers in his entourage/gravy train

[kbackup408]

I am not sure what people want, Robert only gets limited time in the corner between rounds - the worst thing a trainer can do is bombard you with information each round!

from that transcript above can't see anything that would make me question the trainer!

[Roars Like Me]

I am not sure what people want, Robert only gets limited time in the corner between rounds - the worst thing a trainer can do is bombard you with information each round!

from that transcript above can't see anything that would make me question the trainer!

Indeed. If AJ had won, I suspect a thread would be up saying what great advice he gave.

[ironbeard]

For me , Mcrackens advice in the corner was just basic boxing , ONLY thing i would disagree with is the up and down , why would you jab to the body against a hooker , you bring yourself into there range , better of with a jab , upercut when he's coming in ,

But regardless it does'nt matter about the advice in the corner if not 100% correct , it was getting there .. The reason Mckracken should be replaced , is,t on the night corner work , he's more than astute enough , its the preperation , the allowing AJ to become a big stiff robot , who cannot implement basic boxing skills because he's too big and bulky .

Every corner man knows how a taller bigger heavier puncher , should fight a smaller , intense counter puncher who's coming forward , Rob Mckrackens failure has been over a few years , where he has allowed , AJ to become muscle bound and lacking stamina ,

Seen a video of AJ recently , lookig good all muscle bound , touching the scientific pads up down left right , for eye hand , speed coordination , all very scientific , but really a load of bollocks that does'nt work , get back to old school sparring speed work , pad work , and bag work , alongside the arobic training , i've said it before fook off all the institute of sport scientists , and go find a old fashoined Eddie Futch

X2

AJ looked very vulnerable v Povetkin. If that had been Andy Ruiz Jr, June 1 would have been the rematch.

Watched it again prior to the Raptors victory last night and AJ nailed Ruiz with a huge, excellent combo to drop him, then caught him right on the button with huge shots just before getting caught on the temple.

Nothing but The (new) World Champion’s chin got him through that, with the wits and strength to fire back. Nobody else in the top 10 could have withstood that barrage, and do anything but try to survive. The new champion of the planet not only survived but he got stronger.

Same thing happened in the 6th. AJ nailed Ruiz Jr with two huge shots that seemed to spark The Champ rather than hurt him at all.

The point is that AJ is very unlikely to win the rematch without major retooling. That is very difficult to accomplish in one camp.

I think that AJ should go old school (as Coneye has advised) AND walk away from the rematch if he intends to stay in boxing for a relatively long time. If he rematches straight away it will be another large payday but it will likely spell the end for him at the top.

[freddy73]

I say keep McCracken on, I'm sick of fighters sacking their trainers after a loss, trying to pass the blame..

Look at Khan for example, how many trainers has he had? The same as the number of losses I'm guessing..

[ironbeard]

I say keep McCracken on, I'm sick of fighters sacking their trainers after a loss, trying to pass the blame..

Look at Khan for example, how many trainers has he had? The same as the number of losses I'm guessing..

It is not always a case of passing blame. Sometimes a fighter just needs to change course. AJ needs to prune the distractions and pointless BS waaaay back, if he is going to make another run.

[diddy]

His advice was fine. It wasn’t executed. Because AJ never recovered his legs after getting hit behind the ear when he was fighting like a wild idiot in round 3 trying to end the fight. To employ what his corner was asking AJ needed to have his legs. He didn’t.

Typical scapegoat nonsense.

[ewenhay]

I thought McCrackens advice was fine. He understands the strengths and weaknesses of his fighter and tried to play to his strengths.

Joshua didn't appear to understand some basic information as the fight went on though, probably due to being knocked around

[diddy]

I thought McCrackens advice was fine. He understands the strengths and weaknesses of his fighter and tried to play to his strengths.

Joshua didn't appear to understand some basic information as the fight went on though, probably due to being knocked around

Right. He was compromised from round 3 on due sheerly to his own recklessness. When you’re compromised physically the most basic of commands can be too hard to carry out. Even if the mind is willing the body has to act accordingly. His body was incapacitated.

[jamamb]

advice was sound and it was going good enough for a bit with aj winning the first 2 on all the cards and scoring a nice kd

he was totally wild in the follow up though and got caught. look at how andy puts those quick combos together in close range. from competitive advantage standpoint, thats a bad move to trade with him recklessly. after getting dropped the first time i dont think aj really recovered, whereas ruiz did recover and also never looked mentally compromised in any way really

[diddy]

I laugh at people who think Ruiz will win the rematch. It illustrates a lack of understanding for what actually took place in the fight. Joshua was compromised from 3 on bc of his own doing. His own mistake. He’s not going to do that wild brawling garbage in the rematch bc Ruiz has his attention now.

[jamamb]

i agree that aj never really recovered and that getting caught like that is fixable, though it also showed that ruiz can certainly seriously hurt him, ruiz surely cant be written off to do it again, though i think chances are good its a reversed result

[oogiebe]

McCracken kept saying, "Jab, then Jab Jab, then Jab Jab Right." AJ just didn't do it.

[chinarich]

Going along with what others have said, McCracken is not the person that needs changing from AJ's team, it's whoever is responsible for his conditioning. Ruiz looks like he trained at the all you can eat Taco buffet but I would back him to outlast AJ over 12 hard rounds fought at a fast pace and high intensity.

I know Joshua was never the same once he was caught in the 3rd round but we've seen issues with his stamina on several occasions...

[Thomastearns]

Absolutely he should fire McCracken. AJ was far too rigid and one dimensional, the tactics were all wrong, no game plan and no plan b - and it's all the trainers fault.

AJ has always been too robotic and stiff, why when he fought Parker.... err hang on a minute. When he fought Parker he was boxing brilliantly. In fact until the third round against Ruiz it was a near perfect performance from Anthony Joshua.

Anthony Joshua used to say he doesn't buy into too much pre-planning preferring instead to figure out the opposition during the fight. After the third round he wasn't in any position to find the right plan, or follow his trainer's advice.

No point whatsoever in scapegoating Rob McCracken.

If you must scapegoat someone then let it be Jarrell Miller. He was the perfect opposition to make a spectacular statement against on AJs first appearance on the other side of the pond.

Andy Ruiz though was no Jarrell Miller. He was a far more dangerous and difficult an opponent for Anthony Joshua. Even now a long fortnight later, it's not clear how Joshua could have won.

After his knockdown, Ruiz was like a man possessed on a mission to seek and destroy Anthony Joshua.

The jury is still out on whether McCracken's end of R1 advice -

“Use your height and reach. He can't get past the jab, if you jab up and down. And he'll eventually walk onto the right hand."

- would have worked.

If it didn't, then what else is there?

[TheLeprechaun]

To be fair the advice is pretty solid. Joshua got himself into trouble by throwing hooks

[oogiebe]

To be fair the advice is pretty solid. Joshua got himself into trouble by throwing hooks

Yup. McCracken gave him good advice in the corner and AJ couldn't execute. Although I'm in the camp of changing trainers.

[ewenhay]

Yup. McCracken gave him good advice in the corner and AJ couldn't execute. Although I'm in the camp of changing trainers.

Who do you think would be a good trainer for Joshua?