Atlas claims Wilder is still a threat.
If you are knowledgeable enough about boxing, you will have heard of Teddy Atlas, the boxing trainer and fight commentator who has been around in the sport for many years.
Throughout his career, he has trained world champions such as Barry McGuigan, Timothy Bradley, Michael Moorer, Donny Lalonde, and Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
In addition to working with world-ranked contenders such as Michael Grant and Alexander Povetkin, Atlas also has a complicated personal history with Mike Tyson. In short, he’s a boxing man through and through.
Recently celebrating his 70th birthday, the New Yorker continues to be a voice of wisdom in the profession, and he recently spoke on Oleksandr Usyk and his likely next opponent, Deontay Wilder.
Specifically, Atlas stated why he believes Wilder to still be a threat to the Ukrainian despite nearing 41 years of age and no longer at his very best.
“There is always an amount of risk”, stated Atlas to CanadaCasino. “Anytime you get in a ring, there’s risk. Wilder is long, he’s tall, he’s a heavyweight, and he can punch with the right hand. Usyk is getting older. He had 300 amateur fights. He hasn’t taken a lot of punishment, but he has taken some. And as you get older, there is always risk.”
While stating that Wilder has diminished and that him beating Usyk is unlikely, Atlas did ultimately say, “There is still always the possibility that he [Wilder] lands a right hand and Usyk gets old.”
Usyk was made to look more beatable than ever in his last fight, when he was losing handily for many against one-fight boxing novice Rico Verhoeven before getting a controversial stoppage win.
It is expected that Usyk’s next fight will be his last, and Wilder currently appears to be the frontrunner to be his opponent.
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