ANTHONY JOSHUA’S TRAINER has clarified controversial recent remarks in the wake of receiving heavy criticism.
Rob McCracken initially suggested he knew his fighter was concussed during his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr last June.
Joshua was criticised for his sub-par performance in the wake of the loss, but McCracken stated that concussion was a factor in the bout.
He told a BBC Radio 5 Live podcast: “I know him better than all these experts who virtually don’t know him or have met him once or twice so I knew he was concussed and I’m trying to get him through a few more rounds, one round at a time, and see where he’s at.
“‘Can he recover? Can he get back into this?’
“But he was glazy-eyed from when he got caught with that initial shot in round three and he carried that with him up until the end.
“It’s a nightmare situation, pro boxing is deadly and you’re in the corner with a heavyweight not responding as he should.”
During the bout, Joshua could be heard asking his trainer “what round is it?” and “why am I feeling like this?” while getting attended to in between rounds.
Luke Griggs, deputy chief executive of the brain injury charity Headway, was among those to criticise McCracken following his comments.
“It’s a shocking admission, but it’s highly unlikely that this is an isolated incident,” he said.
“Trainers have a duty of care to their boxers and it seems clear that Anthony Joshua’s trainer’s sole priority was winning that fight, not protecting the fighter from a potentially fatal injury.
“We know once you’ve had a concussion, any subsequent blow can exacerbate the damage. You are most at risk of having a particularly serious or fatal brain injury if the brain has already been damaged and a concussion has already been sustained.
“In that point, he was particularly vulnerable to a more serious injury. One wonders how many deaths in the ring over the years have resulted from a win-at-all-costs mentality.”
He continued: “In every other major sport, concussion protocols state that once a concussion has been suspected, the player must be removed and not allowed to return.
Every blow to the head delivered by a fit, strong, technically gifted boxer has the potential to cause a concussion.
“In addition, you’ve got boxers who are praised for their bravery. In Tyson Fury’s last fight, he was praised for somehow defying a count and we’re praising that. We’re celebrating the fact that he beat the count.
“In that time, the referee is tasked with deciding whether or not they are fit to continue.
“You are basically asking the referee to conduct an impromptu concussion assessment with all these people watching, in too short a period of time and when they are not qualified to do so.
“You seem them staggering around on their feet and the referee says ‘show me your strength in your gloves’. But they’re staggering!
“Concussion protocols in boxing are not worth the paper they are written on.”
McCracken has since clarified his controversial remarks in a statement, saying: “In professional boxing, fighters inevitably take punches and have difficult rounds and when they come back to the corner, it is your job as a coach to make a quick assessment of the situation.
There is no formal concussion protocol where the Doctor steps in to assess the boxer so you have to use your experience as a coach and your knowledge of the person to make a decision on whether you think they can recover.
“I have had this a number of times in my career in professional boxing where boxers have recovered from a difficult round to go on and win the fight. I have also pulled boxers out of fights because I knew it was not in their interests to continue.
“I am not a Doctor and it may be that ‘concussed’ is not the right term to have used, but the health of all boxers I work with is of paramount importance to me and I have always used my judgement and experience to do what is right for them.”
With the warm-up games out of the way, Murray, Bernard and Gavan discuss the renewed cause for optimism, impressive individual player form, and a potential quarter-final versus either South Africa or New Zealand.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Against this huge Fiji team I think it’s fair to say that everyone on the bench will get a game
@Niall Cunneen: this will be quite close id say
I hope McCloskey will be a mainstay in the squad after this month
@Shcoop: I bet he won’t do whatever he was told not to do in his last game.
Have to say the technique on the bag hit is all wrong
Head across body , asking for a concussion
Sorry , pedantic I know
@Tony O Dwyer: I don’t think they’re doing tackle practice there…
@Tony O Dwyer: Chris Farrell should be holding that tackle pad. I’d have both McCloskey and Farrell hitting the forwards’ pads.
@Tony O Dwyer: Good point! He won’t want Joe seeing that photo. It always annoys me seeing pro players do it. The worst one I ever saw was Leigh Halfpenny getting knocked out for refusing to tackle with his left shoulder against Italy. What’s even worse is that he still won’t tackle with his left shoulder to this day!
@Conor Paddington: It’s still asking for injury. We all know that McCloskey is going to win a physical contest with Carbery in training but if it’s a game and he doesn’t, he risks serious injury. He is also taking most of the power out of his cleanout by having his neck in front of the man.
@Tony O Dwyer: It’s a rucking drill.
@EK: it’s not asking for injury if he’s not practicing his tackling.
@Gary: Correct, it’s a rucking drill and the height of Carbery’s feet off the ground suggests that McCloskey hit the pad low and then lifted his mate which is the proper rucking technique.
@Conor Paddington: How wonderfully disingenuous of you to ignore my second point. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that whatever drill McCloskey does, whether it’s tackling or rucking, should be practiced with perfect technique to prepare him for game situations. Otherwise he’s practicing a mistake.
This isn’t a witchhunt, just an attempt from a coach to preach the virtues of good habits in training. Unless of course Conor Paddington is an alias for Allen Iverson then…..it’s just practice man.
@EK: I would like the record to state that I am not disingenuous, just lazy. I didn’t read that far. Sorry. That said, we still don’t know what the drill is, my initial point stands. But as you said, it’s a bad angle if he is clearing out.
@Conor Paddington: Fair enough and point taken.
@Tom Reilly: Agreed but the purpose seems to be to unbalance the ball carrier for either a second to secure possession.
Murray might be on gardening leave mariahh
@Range Rover: Carey?