Robert McCracken on Joshua vs Fury: It's Their Call
Robert McCracken has seen enough of boxing’s brutality and politics to know where the line should be drawn. For Anthony Joshua’s long-discussed showdown with Tyson Fury, he believes that line is simple.
It’s their call. No one else’s.
The man who guided Joshua from promising amateur to unified world heavyweight champion is watching the circus from a distance now. Promoters trading updates in public, deadlines and “final offers” floated on social media, fans refreshing timelines for a hint of progress. McCracken wants no part of that noise.
“I think it works out how it should work out most of the time,” he told Sky Sports, reflecting on his own days in the ring. “But it's up to the fighters if they want to fight each other and try and get the better of each other. I don't think it's anybody else's business whether they should fight or not – I think they both proved themselves.”
The business, of course, is raging around them.
Frank Warren says terms are agreed and they are “waiting for AJ.” Eddie Hearn says talks have reopened, with Wembley Stadium again being lined up as the stage for a fight that has hung over British boxing for the best part of a decade. Every fresh comment fuels another round of debate. Who’s stalling? Who’s posturing? Who really wants it?
McCracken strips it back. Ignore the chatter. Look at the fighters.
“In my experiences, he was happy to fight anybody,” he said of Joshua. “It was just about how it was packaged and what was best for him – that's how the fighters look at things these days.”
That last line is telling. The modern heavyweight super-fight is not just about pride or legacy. It’s dates, venues, rematch clauses, broadcast deals, global markets. Fury has voiced his fury at the delays, calling Joshua a “coward” in a social media blast, but McCracken does not recognise that version of the man he once coached to Olympic gold.
He sees a fighter who would relish the chance.
“I've not been involved for a long time with Joshua, but it looks like it's going to happen,” he said. “Hopefully it will and then obviously everyone can enjoy it.”
If it does finally land, it will do so at an intriguing moment in both men’s careers.
Fury tuned up in the summer by dominating Mariusz Wach, closing the show in one-sided fashion and reinforcing the sense that, on current form, he holds the advantage. Joshua’s route was far bumpier. He had to drag himself off the canvas twice before stopping Kristian Prenga, a performance that lit up highlight reels for the knockout but raised questions about the journey that led there.
McCracken expects that doubt to sting. And to motivate.
“Joshua is coming off the back of not a great performance, but obviously he got the knockout and that is all that really matters,” he said. “He'll be looking to prove people wrong, any of the doubters.”
That dynamic feeds the intrigue. Fury, unbeaten and in rhythm, would walk in as favourite, McCracken admits. Joshua, rebuilding and criticised, would walk in with a point to prove and a career to redefine in a single night.
“Tyson would be the favourite at the moment with his recent results and his form,” McCracken added. “It's quite fascinating if you actually think about it, where it's got to and the time it's taken to actually get the fight on.”
While the heavyweight saga rumbles on, McCracken’s attention is also locked on a very different kind of boxing occasion.
He was speaking ahead of “A Night of Solidarity” on November 13, an Olympic-style evening of bouts designed not to settle grudges, but to honour resilience and community. The event will raise funds for firefighters’ charities, youth sports organisations and community groups in North Kensington, an area still marked by the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
On the night of that disaster and in the months that followed, local boxing and sports clubs stepped in when the community needed them most. They created safe spaces for young people, offered routine and support, and helped families begin to rebuild lives shattered by loss.
The London Fire Brigade Boxing Club has been at the heart of that work, using the discipline and camaraderie of the gym to connect rank-and-file firefighters with young people across the capital. Gloves on, barriers down.
“A Night of Solidarity” will bring those strands together. An LFB Select team will face a North Kensington side made up of men, women and youth boxers drawn from clubs across the local area and wider London. Twelve bouts, one shared purpose: to celebrate the unifying power of sport and to recognise the roles played by both the LFB Boxing Club and the grassroots gyms closest to Grenfell.
McCracken knows the value of the sport at both ends of the spectrum – from the glare of a potential Joshua-Fury blockbuster to the quieter, more profound work done in small halls and community gyms.
One fight might define an era. The others are helping to rebuild a community.
