Teddy Atlas has stuck his neck out and made what he admits is a ‘wild’ prediction for when Anthony Joshua and Otto Wallin face off this weekend.
On paper, Wallin is a level below Joshua. His reparation is built on a valiant loss against Tyson Fury in 2019 and, though he has some solid wins since then, there isn’t anything standout to suggest he should be able to trouble the former two-time world champion ‘AJ’ at his best.
He is, however, a southpaw, which might pose a few problems for the Brit who struggled against another southpaw in Usyk, though few are on the same level as the unified champion, and George Groves is one man who is expecting a knockout win for the Brit.
Speaking on The Fight, famed trainer and analyst Atlas made a bold prediction for the fight, but admitted that it’s very much going against consensus.
“I’m gonna go with a real wild pick here. I’m gonna go with Wallin as a huge upset. I know I that I should pick Joshua, that’s the easier pick.”
He then made a claim that Joshua might get favourable scores on the cards should it go to the judges after 12 rounds.
“I know if both men are standing at the end of the fight then Joshua gets it whether he deserves it or not. I know that there’s also a risk that Joshua can knock out Wallin. Joshua is the bigger punch here, he might land a nice concise counterpunch which he has the ability to do and knock out Wallin.
But I’m going to take a shot here and go with Wallin winning a decision at the end of the day. It’s either going to be that or Joshua winning a controversial decision, getting a gift.”