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🥊 For Better Or Worse
The Fight Team
February 24, 2023
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Fight With Teddy Atlas Newsletter, your one stop shop for all things combat sports related, brought to you by Teddy and The Fight team.
Every Friday We Bring You:
A combat sports news digest with all the headlines you need to know from Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts.
Highlights from the podcast and across the fight world.
Fight times and information you need to know ahead of time.
How to’s and tips for Boxing from Teddy himself.
Fight News From Around The 🌍
Paul and Fury Finally Face Off
After 2 failed attempts to make the fight happen, Tommy Fury and Jake Paul are set to face off in what promises to be a highly anticipated and explosive fight between two relative novices to the sport.
Tommy Fury, the younger half brother brother of WBC & Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, boasts an impressive record of 8-0, with four knockouts. He has great natural attributions as a boxer, with long arms for his height and an educated jab, both to the head and body. However, the quality of the opposition he's faced is questionable at best (something Paul has repeatedly highlighted).
Jake Paul, on the other hand, has arguably faced more opposition who have actually tried to beat him. Even though Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva are not professional boxers by any stretch, they had a will to win (Woodley arguably won their first bout) at a minimum. Paul behaves like a fighter and has an unquestionable work ethic and will to reach the summit of the sport. We've seen evidence of this in his performances to date.
The same can't be said of the younger Fury....yet.
The stakes for him are high. His older brother and father have both spoken of disowning him should he lose. Whilst it may be over the top, his chances of progressing his boxing career in the next few years will take a serious hit if he loses to Paul.
There's a chance the trash talk and animosity will awaken something we haven't seen yet in Tommy Fury, and he goes out there and hands out a one sided beating to Jake Paul.
There are a lot of unknowns for Sunday night. What we do know, is that for better or worse, Jake Paul is likely here to stay. He's brought a lot of new eyeballs to the sport and is doing PPVs with less than 10 fights under his belt.
Whilst he may not be to everyone's liking, he brings entertainment, and we'll see that on Sunday.
What to look for in the fight:
Jab. Tommy has a good jab and very long reach (80 in/203 cm) for his 6 foot frame. Should he be able to be assertive with his jab from early, he could win a good amount of rounds and keep the hard hitting Paul off balance.
Size. Tommy has campaigned at light-heavyweight for his entire pro career so far. Paul is a natural cruiserweight, so it'll be interesting to see how the size difference affects the fight as it progresses.
Lucky Number Three
On Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, two light heavyweights will look to make it three wins in the row, with a view to entering the top 5 of the division within a few months.
Nikita Krylov is coming off two of the biggest wins of his career. In true up and down fashion form, these wins came off two fairly conclusive losses to Magomed Ankalaev and submission artist Paul Craig. Krylov bounced back to brutally knock out former 3x title challenger Alexander Gustafsson in the first round and then outpoint Volkan Oezdemir.
For a good while it seemed the higher echelons at light heavyweight was out of reach for Ryan Spann, but he burst into 2022 by submitting Ion Cutelaba and knocking out Dominick Reyes in the first round to take his UFC record to 7-2. It's the kind of start he needed following a disappointing couple of performances against Johnnie Walker and Anthony Smith.
These two contenders have both had to bounce back from inconsistency to gain some real momentum. Unfortunately, only one of them will be able to continue to storm forward into the rankings, whilst the other will have to dip back into the loss column.
What to look for in the fight:
Geography. Krylov has a very good chance of grinding out a points win, or even a late submission should he be able to control Spann on the mat and secure takedowns. Spann can grapple himself and has some good jiu-jitsu, but Krylov is a level above.
Standing. Spann has gained a lot more confidence in his striking in his last few fights, and the flatlining of Dom Reyes should put the whole division on notice. Keep an eye on his power in the opening round.
Hear From 1/2 Of Sunday's Fight
Teddy and Ken were joined on the podcast by Jake Paul just under a year ago. They discussed his love for boxing, the promotional game and just how far his ambition goes.
Check out the full episode by clicking below.
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Paul vs Fury (Sunday 26th/Monday 27th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Pacific | Main Event: 4pm Eastern/ 1pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 7pm | Main Event: 9pm
🇦🇺 Full Card: 6am Eastern/ 4am Western | Main event: 8am Eastern/ 6am Western
Boxing: Matias vs Ponce (Saturday 25th/Sunday 26th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 3am | Main Event: 4am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 12pm Western | Main event: 3pm Eastern/ 1pm Western
MMA: Krylov vs Spann (Saturday 25th/Sunday 26th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 7pm Eastern/ 4pm Pacific | Main Event: 9pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 12am | Main Event: 2am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western | Main event: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western