🐺 The Rougarou Returns

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 breakdown the recent UFC Fight Night card along with the DAZN Munguia vs Coria card. They also discuss Gervonta Tank Davis vs Ryan Garcia given that the fight has officially been announced, though it's being reported that it is not officially signed and that it wi…

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Fight News From Around The 🌍

Whyte Looks To Bounce Back

The road back to title contention begins tomorrow night for former WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte, who takes on undefeated American Jermaine Franklin over 12 rounds in London.

The more experienced fighter, Whyte is five years older than Franklin and has an additional 10 fights on his record, having only lost to current or former world champions.

He was decisively beaten by the #1 heavyweight of his generation, Tyson Fury in his last fight, where he lost every round ahead of being knocked out in the 6th round.

There's no shame in losing to the very best, but Whyte will be eager to right his wrongs and make one more push towards his dream of joining the club of British heavyweight champions.

The "Bodysnatcher" has never lost two in a row and there is little reason to believe that will change on Saturday as he seeks to overcome Franklin.

Despite an undefeated record, Franklin has never really been tested outside of the US, and his most notable victory is a split decision win against the experienced heavyweight gatekeeper Jerry Forrest.

He'll come in with the confidence that an unblemished record bestows, but there's no denying that there is an obvious experience and talent gap between the fighters.

Should Whyte be able to get the victory, preferably within the distance, it could set up a monster rematch in 2023 with former unified champion Anthony Joshua, and a chance for him to avenge the 1st of his 3 career losses.

What to look for in the fight:

  1. Rounds. Whyte will be eager to finish the fight within the distance, but has expressed a desire to get more rounds under his belt ahead of a potentially very active 2023. Look for the fight to go between 5-7 rounds.

  2. Hand speed. Franklin has deceptively quick hands for a heavyweight, and could prove difficult to handle in the early stages as Whyte is a slow starter.

  3. Openings. Franklin leads with his lead left hand low, which will leave opportunities for Whyte's dangerous lead and counter left hook, which he has scored all 3 of his last KOs with.

Picking Up The Pieces

Josh Taylor's slow but steady vacating of 3/4 undisputed belts has been creating opportunities for other top super-lightweights to step up and take their chance to become world champion.

Jose Zepeda and Regis Prograis are two of said fighters, fighting on Saturday to become the new WBC champion at 140 lbs.

Zepeda is on a tremendous winning streak ever since he dropped a very close decision to then champion Jose Ramirez back in early 2019.

Since then he's defeated established fighters such as Jose Pedraza and Hank Lundy, as well as scoring impressive KOs against Ivan Baranchyk and Josue Vargas, proving his ability as one of the most well rounded and industrious fighters at the weight.

Against Prograis, he'll get the opportunity to cap off an impressive resume with a world title.

Opportunity is something that his Houston-based opponent has found hard to come by in recent years.

The "Rougarou" burst onto the scene at the World Boxing Super series in 2018, where he captured the WBA title and pushed Josh Taylor all the way in his backyard in the final.

Having lost his WBA strap to the Scot, he's since been stuck in boxing purgatory - too good for lesser opposition but too risky for big-name fights, especially without a title to his name anymore.

Since the Taylor fight, he's made easy work of all the opposition he's faced, and on Saturday he'll be able to let out years of frustration out on Zepeda.

With the status as a freshly minted 2x champion, he'll find that bigger name opposition will suddenly be a lot more interested in him as an opponent, potentially even paving the way for a Josh Taylor rematch should he get past his rematch with Jack Catterall.

What to look for in the fight:

  1. Chins. Prograis has one of the best chins in all of boxing, having never been down as a pro. Zepeda on the other hand, has been down before, including 4 times against Baranchyk. Whoever is the most durable could be a major factor in this fight.

  2. Geography. Zepeda's longer frame will be best suited to trying to keep Prograis at range and pick him off with power shots. Look for Prograis to negate this with clever head movement and straight shot counters off of them.

Odds (Courtesy of MyBookie.Ag)

Prograis -454

Zepeda +284

Fight ⏰ for this weekend

Boxing: Whyte vs Franklin (Saturday 26th/Sunday 27th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Pacific | Main Event: 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific

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

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 6am Eastern/ 4am Western | Main Event: 9am Eastern/ 7am Western

Boxing: Prograis vs Zepeda (Saturday 26th/Sunday 27th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 2am | Main Event: 4am

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western | Main Event: 3pm Eastern/ 1pm Western

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

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