👑 The King Returns North

February 25, 2022

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.

Teddy Atlas and co-host Ken Rideout discuss boxing news with the heavyweight WBC mandatory title fight of Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte now booked, news that Canelo is working with DAZN on a 2 fight deal to fight Dmitry Bivol and do a triology with GGG. They also discuss Kell Brook's win over Amir Kha…

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 tos and tips for Boxing from Teddy himself

Fight News From Around The 🌍

An Undisputed Homecoming

Undisputed Super-Lightweight champion Josh Taylor will be making the first defence of his crown back in his home country of Scotland.

It marks Taylor's first fight in the country since he became a fully fledged world champion back in 2019, when he decisioned Ivan Baranchyk for the IBF title, the first of the 5 total belts he now holds.

In an era where Undisputed champions are rare, fully fledged defences of the titles are even rarer.

When Terence Crawford held all the belts back in 2017, he moved up immediately in weight. Teofimo Lopez's status as Undisputed was removed by WBC belt confusion.

Oleksandr Usyk remains the only modern day male boxer to have made a defence of an Undisputed crown.

Josh Taylor now joins him in that regard, re-igniting the old Scotland vs England rivalry by taking on the young contender Jack Catterall.

Catterall is 3 years younger than Taylor and undefeated. Although his past opponents are nowhere near the level of Taylor's, he has banked world class sparring in the past.

He served as one of Floyd Mayweather's partners for the Pacquiao fight and one of Canelo's sparring partners for his fight with James Kirkland.

Taylor however, is now a bona fide pound for pound level fighter, with victories over all the top names in his division, such as Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez.

He'll now have eyes on cementing his pound for pound status by moving up and challenging the elite at Welterweight.

Terence Crawford doesn't have a fight booked in the near future, and has expressed an openness to challenging Taylor.

Before he can think of Crawford, the Undisputed champ must avoid the potential banana peel that Catterall could turn out to be, and keep his eyes on defending his coveted prize.

He'll no doubt be the odds-on favourite, but as we've seen already with the likes of Teofimo Lopez last year, overconfidence and complacency won't serve you well in a unified title fight.

Bobby Green Saves The Show

Bobby Green did the entire MMA fanbase a solid by stepping in against the huge talent Islam Makhachev this weekend, at only 10 days notice.

But has he sold himself short here?

Stylistically, he is up against a talented wrestler and submission specialist, who is coming off a first round submission against Dan Hooker back at 267.

The Russian hasn't lost in the UFC since 2015, notching up 9 consecutive wins on the road to what looks to be a certain title shot in 2022.

Green may himself be fresh off impressive wins over Nasrat Haqparast and Al Iaquinta, but it's difficult to ignore the significance of the 10 days notice and how little time that gives him to prepare for an opponent of Makhachev's quality.

Add in the fact that he fought as recently 2 weeks ago, and it looks like all the stars are falling into place for Makhachev to add to his win streak and keep marching towards the winner of Oliveira vs Gaethje.

However, Green will be hungry to prove himself in what is his first ever main event slot.

He possesses violent knockout power and respectable wrestling credentials himself, so if he can stay sharp in the first few rounds, there could be an upset on the cards.

The script dictates that Makhachev will continue his win streak and cement himself as the number 1 challenger, keeping in his desire to succeed his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov as the next UFC Lightweight champion.

It'll be up to Bobby Green to embrace his underdog status and tear up that script.

Fight ⏰ for this weekend

Boxing: Taylor vs Catterall (Saturday 26th/Sunday 27th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 10pm Eastern/ am Pacific | Main Event: 12pm Eastern/ 9pm Pacific

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 7pm | Main Event: 10pm

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 6am Eastern/ 3am Western | Main Event: 9am Eastern/ 6am Western

UFC: Makhachev vs Green (Saturday 26th/Sunday 27th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 7pm Eastern/ 4pm Pacific | Main Event: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 12pm | Main Event: 3am

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 8am Western | Main Event: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Western

Don't forget to tune in to the latest episode 🎧

Thanks for being with us and see you next week #BANG💥