Teddy Atlas slams Deontay Wilder by claiming he ‘can’t fight’ despite picking him to beat ‘mentally lost’ Tyson Fury
LEGENDARY trainer Teddy Atlas slammed Deontay Wilder by claiming he “can’t fight” after Tyson Fury dominated the Bronze Bomber.
Atlas had backed hard-hitting Wilder, 34, to defeat “mentally lost” Fury, 31, all week after questioning the Gypsy King’s decision to fight at 19st.
But the 63-year-old fight commentator backtracked post-fight after Fury battered and bossed Wilder in Las Vegas twice dropping him before the American’s trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel in round seven.
Atlas insisted Wilder paid the price for never learning “how to fight” because he has always relied on his devastating power – something he just could not implemented against Fury.
He said on ESPN: “Full disclosure, I picked Wilder to win, figuring his eraser would take care of a lot of sins.
“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. Tonight, he got exposed because he doesn’t know how to fight because of his technique.”
Fury warned Wilder he would ditch his back-foot boxing tactics to look for a knockout, something the Bronze Bomber insisted was a bluff.
But Atlas praised the Brit for having the bravery to completely switch from his usual game plan as Fury, the aggressor, ripped away Wilder’s WBC belt.
He said: “Sometimes it’s good not to care, and just go in there and go after. That’s what Fury did.
“He didn’t try and box, and didn’t try and use his best assets, his legs, and his elusive ability.
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“He used his size and determination, and he took advantage of a guy [Wilder], who was there to be taken advantage of.
“It was a guy whose 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.”