"Who did he beat?" - Teddy Atlas believes Deontay Wilder beat 'a bunch of hand-picked guys' before fighting Tyson Fury
Teddy Atlas has questioned the level of competition Deontay Wilder faced prior to his trilogy with Tyson Fury.
Atlas recently sat down for an interview with Submission radio. The renowned boxing coach touched upon various topics, including the trilogy fight between Wilder and 'The Gypsy King', Conor McGregor's return to the UFC and the upcoming heavyweight showdown between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.
At one point in the interaction, Atlas stated that he believes 'The Bronze Bomber' was fed hand-picked opponents to build up his record before he fought Fury.
"Wilder fought a bunch of hand-picked guys. I mean, who did he beat? Other than [Luis] Ortiz who was 40 years old? Who did he beat? It was like, they lined up a bunch of bowling pins in a bowling alley and he knocked them over. He fights his... first real fight, maybe, you could argue and it's with [Tyson] Fury and a lot of people thought he lost. He gets a draw and then he fights the rematch and then he gets run over."
Atlas added that despite the loss, Deontay Wilder put on a performance worthy of respect against the WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion.
"The fans saw something in losing... but it was something magnificent. It was something beautiful. It was something glorious. It was something noble. It was a man fighting for his identity, a man fighting for his life, for his right to live his life feeling like a champion, behaving like a champion. That's what he [Deontay Wilder] did that night and that's why the fans now respect him in a whole whole different way, even though he lost."
Catch Teddy Atlas' full appearance on Submission Radio below:
MMA fighters praise the thrilling trilogy fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury
Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury blew the roof off the T-Mobile Arena on October 9. The two heavyweights delivered a highly entertaining back-and-forth affair that ended with 'The Gypsy King' getting his hand raised.
MMA fighters like Jorge Masvidal and current 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski took to social media to show their appreciation for the two fighters.
Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier described the heavyweight clash as "crazy."