Anthony Joshua has been told by Tyson Fury's dad that his trainer saved his life in his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua lost his WBA, IBF and WBO titles in September on points to the Ukrainian.
It was a heavy loss to take, with the Brit having no answer to Usyk's masterful game plan and in the aftermath Joshua's trainer Rob McCracken came in for heavy criticism.
However, one man who backed the thought process in London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is John Fury.
McCracken's advice kept Joshua going until the end of the contest and Fury said that any other way of going about the fight would have seen him knocked unconscious.
"Robert McCracken was trying to keep him on his feet," Fury told BT Sport Boxing. "He was giving him the advice to get to the 12th round and not get stopped.
"I think if AJ would’ve fought any other way he would’ve got stopped. Usyk would have knocked him out.
"It was like a caution sort of thing, happy to come second best. What can you do if your man is in that state of mind, it’s your job as a trainer to keep him on his feet."
Joshua is likely to get a second opportunity to face Usyk in April or March 2022 according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
Fury believes had Joshua been seen sprawling to the canvas, that would have ended all hope of a rematch and is further proof that calls to replace trainer McCracken are pointless.
"Whether he wins or not is a different matter but Robert McCracken has saved his life, because he can come again," Fury added.
"Can you imagine if Usyk would’ve counted him out. That would be AJ finished for good wouldn't it.
"Robert McCracken, I think he’s saved him for another day. He can come back from that defeat because it wasn’t that bad. Why it wasn’t that bad, is down to Robert McCracken.
"He’s not a bad trainer Rob McCracken."
