Robert McCracken
Encyclopedia
Robert McCracken is a former British middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

 boxer and world title challenger from Birmingham, England. Robert worked as a wood machinist at Hoskins Cabinet Works, Bordesley
Bordesley
Bordesley may refer to several places in England:*Bordesley, West Midlands, an area of Birmingham*Bordesley Green, a separate area of Birmingham*Bordesley, Worcestershire, an area of Redditch*Bordesley Abbey, a ruined abbey near Reddich...

, Birmingham before turning to boxing.He was affectionately known as "boxing Bob". McCracken turned pro in 1991 in the Light-Middleweight division. In February 1994 he won the British title by outpointing Andy Till, and defended it twice outpointing Steve "The Viking" Foster and Paul Wesley.

In November 1995 he officially moved into the Middleweight division, winning the vacant Commonwealth title by outpointing Canadian southpaw Fitzgerald Bruney. He would successfully retain the title twice by beating Paul Busby and Bruney again in a rematch, before relocating to the United States in 1997 and progressing up the world rankings.

In February 1998 he achieved a notable victory outpointing Lonnie Beasley, and over the course of four fights elevated himself to #1 contender status in the WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

 rankings.

World title fight

In April 2000 McCracken challenged American southpaw Keith Holmes for the WBC World Middleweight title. The fight was the main event of the UK show that preceded Lennox Lewis
Lennox Lewis
Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...

's high profile fight with Michael Grant
Michael Grant (boxer)
Michael Anthony Grant is a professional heavyweight boxer. He is 6' 7" tall, with an 86' reach. A natural born athlete before boxing he blossomed into a three-sport star at Chicago's Harper High School...

 in New York the same night.

To preserve his ranking McCracken had been inactive for a year and his ring rust showed, as he fell behind early and stayed there. The referee stopped the fight in the 11th round.

McCracken was inactive for another year training other boxers, before returning in April 2001 to fight highly regarded Howard Eastman, who now held the British and Commonwealth titles and a 31-0 record. The vacant European title was also on the line, however McCracken's long layoffs once again hurt him, after a close, tough fight McCracken wilted in the 10th round to Eastman's power punching.

Retirement

McCracken retired from fighting after the Eastman loss, and now works for the Hennessy Sports company, training numerous boxers. His most successful and high profile fighters to date are Carl Froch
Carl Froch
Carl Froch is an English professional boxer and is a two-time and reigning WBC super middleweight champion. He previously held the British, Commonwealth, & English titles at super middleweight.-Amateur:...

and former rival Eastman.

McCracken's record is 33-2 (19 knockouts)
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