McCRACKEN REGRETS MISSED CHANCE

Sporting Life - Mark Staniforth11th November, 2009

For a man whose professional career yielded British and Commonwealth titles and culminated in a challenge for the world middleweight title at Wembley Arena, Robert McCracken still has a lot of regrets.

One is that despite his obvious potential and half a decade of domestic dominance, he came up short in his challenge for the WBC belt against slippery American Keith Holmes in 2000.

But the one which still burns brighter than most is his decision to bring an end to his amateur career in 1990, forsaking an already-qualified place at the Barcelona Olympics for the lure of turning professional.

McCracken, who was appointed the British Amateur Boxing Association's new performance director this week, has since reinvented himself as a coach, of Carl Froch and others, of significant repute.

And as the 41-year-old prepares to make his belated appearance at a Games in his new tracksuit role, he has wasted no time in urging the country's current elite amateurs not to grow into middle-age with the same regrets.

"There's pictures of Great Britain's Olympic boxers all over the walls of our new gym and it is a source of massive regret when I look at them and wonder if my picture would have been up there," McCracken says.

"I'd boxed and beaten pretty much everybody in the amateurs and I'd qualified to go to Barcelona. But I was young and foolish and I took what I thought was a good offer to turn professional.

"I've already sat some of the current lads down and explained to them that there can be nothing better for an amateur boxer than getting to the Olympics and they've got to have the motivation and discipline to get there."

It seems the amateur sport could not have found a better ambassador than McCracken. "I don't look back on my career fondly," he admitted. "Ultimately, I look back on my professional career with disappointment.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the best days I had in boxing were when I was an amateur, travelling the world with my team-mates. If I could help bring one of these guys an Olympic gold medal it would be massively satisfying."

After a subdued display which culminated in an 11th-round stoppage loss to Holmes - his first defeat - McCracken fought one more time, losing to Howard Eastman, before announcing his retirement in 2001.

In coaching, working closely with promoter Mick Hennessy, McCracken has thrived, helping Froch win the WBC super-middleweight crown and developing the careers of young fighters like John O'Donnell and Tyson Fury.

Having assisted the new amateur set-up since the turn of the year, McCracken seemed an obvious and sufficiently high-profile appointment following the surprise exit of his predecessor Kevin Hickey.

McCracken is under no illusions. The post-Beijing exodus has left the elite squad a little thin on the ground and the recent failure to claim a medal at the World Championships in Milan shows how much work there is ahead.

But McCracken believes if he can instil his perfectionist attitude into his young proteges there is still plenty of time - and plenty of talent - to realise his ambition of "a stack of medals" at 2012.

"We've got to adopt a whole new professional mindset," said McCracken. "You're amateur in name but to win an Olympic medal you have got to be a professional athlete really.

"We'll bring Carl up to Sheffield to train with the lads which will hopefully motivate and inspire them. And we have the World Series of Boxing next year which will also help develop the professional attitude I want.

"I'm a very motivated person. That's why I don't look back on my professional career fondly. I want to succeed and I want my boxers to succeed, and I want us all to move forward as a team.

"That's where I'm coming from now. That's where I get my satisfaction from - there is no better feeling for me now than when my boxers achieve their potential by winning world or Olympic titles."

-->