Teddy Atlas has assessed whether Tyson Fury is the rightful favourite ahead of his long-awaited Battle of Britain with Anthony Joshua.
The two heavyweights will collide at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11, with the winner set to become a three-time world champion by claiming the WBA ‘super’ title.
And while many consider it a 50/50 matchup, the majority of fans are seemingly favouring Fury to score a satisfying victory over his domestic rival.
This is partly because of their respective last two performances, as ‘The Gypsy King’ is coming off dominant wins over Arslanbek Makhmudov and Mariusz Wach – albeit without looking his best – while Joshua suffered two knockdowns against Kristian Prenga in July.
Ultimately, he got up to stop his man in the second round but, even before that, ‘AJ’ hardly looked spectacular prior to his sixth-round finish over Jake Paul.
For Atlas, though, it is more their two respective encounters with Oleksandr Usyk that may offer an indication of how their clash might unfold.
And with Fury suffering a ninth-round knockdown against the Ukrainian in their first fight, Hall of Fame trainer Atlas has told RING CHAMPS that he can see a world where Joshua wins by knockout.
“I can see why they make Fury the favourite. First of all, Joshua’s last fight – that’s part of it.
“And [Fury] has more dimension, where he can use his legs, he can move, he’s tall, he’s longer … he can be a little more elusive [and] pick his spots.
“But the one thing they forget is, in those Usyk fights, he got hit and he got affected. With the right hand, Joshua’s a greater puncher [than Usyk].”
Atlas went on to say that if Joshua is “mentally right”, and starts coming forward with an authoritative jab, he should find an opportunity to knock Fury out.
