22 June 2023 , 14:39
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Carl Froch believes Anthony Joshua lost his heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk as he disregarded the advice of ex-coach Rob McCracken.
Joshua, 33, was first beaten by Usyk in September 2021 as the Brit also failed to win back his unified belts in their rematch last August. 'AJ' parted ways with McCracken after his first defeat to the Ukrainian and partnered up with Robert Garcia for the second fight, only to split with the trainer after things didn't go his way again.
Froch now believes that Joshua's first fight against Usyk could have gone differently if the former two-time champion would have listen to his trainer's advice. “It’s quite simple. It’s a really short answer. He didn’t listen to Rob McCracken. He didn’t do what he was told," Froch told Up Front with Simon Jordan.
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"He totally disregarded him and that relationship broke down then Rob wasn’t in the corner for the rematch. He must’ve known that their relationship was gonna end. I’m friends with Rob and because I have conversations with him, I can’t talk too much about what me and Rob talk about. All I will say is, it’s quite easy for everybody who saw that first fight to see that Anthony Joshua did not listen to Rob McCracken."
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Joshua picked up his first win in over two years by beating Jermaine Franklin in April; the fight marked his first under well-accomplished trainer Derrick James. 'AJ' is expected to fight against in August before potentially facing Deontay Wilder at the end of the year in Saudi Arabia.
Froch hasn't had the best relationship with Joshua, as the heavyweight sent him a string of messages after 'Cobra' criticised his performance against Andy Ruiz Jr, only for 'AJ' to later delete the evidence. Froch claimed that Joshua was slacking during his first training camp for Usyk which is ultimately what led to his poor showing in the fight.
"The training camp – I know by the way because you get little insights from the camp and you hear other people talking about it, I’m not talking about Rob – not wanting to do hard runs. Not wanting to spar. If you don’t do that sparring and you don’t do the running, they’re the two most important fundamental things, you’re not ready for the fight," Froch added.