Teddy Atlas has proven himself to be a jack of all trades over his years of involvement in the sport, whether that be as a trainer, commentator or fight analyst. Now, the former coach of Wilfredo Benitez has adopted the role of TV critic, as he slammed the production value of a recent show on DAZN.
Vergil Ortiz Jr maintained his impressive 100% knockout record as he recorded a twentieth career stoppage two weeks ago, stopping Fredrick Lawson in the opening round of their fight to put the super-welterweight division on notice on his debut at the weight. Elsewhere on the card, Ohara Davies suffered a shock stoppage defeat to Ismael Barroso, also in the first-round.
Whilst Atlas was full of praise for Ortiz on his YouTube channel, both for his performance and willingness to face WBO champion, Tim Tszyu, Atlas was less impressed by the production of the Golden Boy Promotions show, likening it to watching a ‘bootleg movie’.
“The production of that show on DAZN, the De La Hoya show… and this isn’t [aimed at] DAZN in general [because] when Hearn does them it is a different level but when De La Hoya does them, I’ve got to be frank, it is a poor production, the arena, the whole look, the sound.”
“It is like watching a bootleg movie, it had no quality, it was like a high-school production. It just didn’t have that top level production value and feel and sound to it and Vergil deserves that.”
Whilst De La Hoya may not have caught wind of the comments from Atlas, the outspoken champion-turned-promoter will likely respond when he does.
Ortiz’s win has seemingly kickstarted talks of a showdown against Tszyu in Australia, in what is fast becoming one of 2024’s most demanded contests. Tszyu has now responded to the call-out, and to the joy of fans around the glove, appeared game to face Ortiz in what he described as a ‘modern day classic’.
