Teddy Atlas reacts to Deontay Wilder’s loss: ‘He CAN’T fight’

By Boxing News - 02/23/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Deontay Wilder’s technique completely failed him tonight in his loss to Tyson Fury in their rematch in Las Vegas, according to Teddy Atlas. Fury (31-0-1, 21 KOs) embarrassed WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) in outclassing him in such a one-sided manner that he looked like he didn’t belong inside the same ring with him.

Should Wilder forget about fighting Fury again?

It was such a humiliating loss for Wilder that he might be better off if he chooses to forget about Fury for the remainder of his career. There’s nothing wrong with Wilder moving on. George Foreman moved on without facing Muhammad Ali in a rematch after losing to him. Foreman still found success even without ever avenging his loss to Ali. Wilder can do the same.

Fury knocked Wilder, 34, down twice in Saturday night’s rematch in dropping him in round 3 and 5 at the Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wilder’s corner threw in the towel in the 7th round, and the fight was subsequently stopped at 1:39 if round 7 by referee Kenny Bayless.

Atlas says Deontay cant fight, and he never has. Fury exposed Wilder tonight in giving him a boxing lesson, says Atlas. But the things that Fury exposed, they were always there. Wilder never could box, and he was able to get away with that all this time due to the huge right-hand eraser that he used to bail him out in fights against better-skilled fighters.

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Wilder’s technique failed him tonight – Atlas

“Full disclosure, I picked Wilder to win, figuring his eraser would take care of a lot of sins,” said Teddy Atlas to ESPN. “I’ve been saying since the beginning of his career that Wilder CAN’T fight. He can’t fight. He never learned how to fight, but punchers are not made. They’re born, and he was born with that great eraser, with that thunderbolt in his right hand.

“But tonight it wasn’t there to pull him out of the fire,” said Atlas on Wilder’s right-hand power not saving him. “Tonight, he got exposed because he doesn’t know how to fight because of his technique. All credit to Fury. Instead of being a Ferreri, he decided to be a Jeep. I think Jeeps can be good and can go up the terrain and can go up hills, and crash into things.

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“My point was he was going to have a kamikaze attitude, and not care,” said Atlas about Fury. “Sometimes it’s good not to care, and just go in there and go after. That’s what Fury did tonight. He didn’t try and box, and didn’t try and use his best assets, his legs, and his elusive ability.

“He used his size and determination, and he took advantage of a guy [Wilder], who was there to be taken advantage of,” Atlas said about Fury. “It was a guy who’s technique was there to fail him on any given night, and his power was there to save him on any given night. Tonight, his technique failed him, and his power never got a chance to save him,” said Atlas on Deontay’s power not saving him against Fury.

There never was any technique to speak of with Wilder, and that was the problem. Once it was clear that Wilder couldn’t land his right-hand tonight it was only a matter of time before Fury wore him down and stopped him. Wilder’s defense wasn’t there, and he took too much of a beating.

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Fury sensed weakness from Wilder

“Fighters can tell when a fighter isn’t pushing back,” said Atlas. “Fury felt that, and it gave him confidence, and gave him steam to go forward. He understood what was going on, and he followed what he understood the right way to victory. You got to give him a little bit more time.

“This was a great upset,” said Atlas about Fury. It was on a great stage. I mean, the promotion for this fight was unheard of. It was Super Bowl ads. So everybody watching this fight is going to give him attention, the attention that Fury deserves.

“You still got to give him a little bit more of a resume and let him go a little bit longer, but right now, he’s at a throne, baby. He picked the right set to come out in. He’s sitting on the throne. He’s the king, baby.

Wilder’s weakness was exposed once he was dropped hard by Fury in round 3. When Wilder came out for the fourth, he was still hurt, and Fury had nothing to be afraid of at that point.

The blood coming from Wilder’s cut ear, and his lip also encouraged Fury to go after him to try and finish him. If Wilder had more boxing skills, he could have taken advantage of Fury’s aggressiveness by hurting him.

Joshua vs. Fury will need another stadium to be built

“Don’t forget this. There’s a guy over there in London, and his name is Joshua,” said Atlas in talking about Fury still needing to fight Joshua. “I know everyone is going to talk about bringing this [Fury vs. Wilder trilogy], but can you imagine how big that fight is going to be?

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“Let me just tell you something. Joshua was putting 90,000 fannies in seats in Wembley when he was fighting doormen from a restaurant,” Atlas said. “But can you imagine? They would need to build another stadium to put Joshua and Fury. That’s the fight that we need to talk about, as much as people around here are going to want to talk about a third.

“I get it, but they’re going to talk about that,” said Atlas about a fight between Joshua and Fury. “You know what speaks at the end of the day? Money?” said Atlas.

There’s going to be a big move on IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn to set up a unification fight with Fury. Wilder can block that by triggering the rematch clause, but that’s something that he’ll need to think about. Right now, Wilder is in the same boat at Andy Ruiz Jr. in having been exposed and embarrassed in losing.