Veteran trainer and broadcaster Teddy Atlas believes Oleksandr Usyk could have held his own with any heavyweight in history.
Atlas was ringside in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to see Usyk once more defeat Tyson Fury via decision, and when asked by Pro Boxing Fans whether Usyk deserved to be ranked alongside the division’s immortals, Atlas said: “He’s earned the right to be mentioned with all the top guys. He’s one of the great winners of our era and the funny thing is, there’s not one thing about him where you can say, ‘Oh my God, he’s so great, he’s the greatest puncher, he’s fast like Ali…’ No. But there’s not one thing he doesn’t do real well. He does everything real well.
“He doesn’t have one weakness. And the most important thing is at the end of the day, the strongest part of him is the mental part. He’s always in charge of himself. Always.”
Atlas also said the potential Fury-Anthony Joshua has “lost its zing, it’s lost its lustre” if it were to be made next year, with both coming off defeats. Atlas believed the 36-year-old Fury was better last night than he had been when he faced Usyk in May, but it still was not enough.
“I thought Tyson would be better, and he was better, give him credit for that,” Atlas said. “Instead of just moving around the ring and letting Usyk boil him down with the pressure like he did the first time, he used the wingspan, he set himself, he made Usyk earn his way in. He wasn’t pushed all over the ring, and that’s what wears you down. Fury, to his credit, did a much better job. But Usyk does what he does. He finds a way to win.”
Read the full article here