Mike Tyson’s former trainer says Anthony Joshua still has 3 clear flaws

Wladimir Klitschko cronks Anthony Joshua

Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

Joshua (left) won acclaim for his thrilling victory over Klitschko (right) but Atlas believes he still has holes in his game.

Renowned boxing coach Teddy Atlas has praised Anthony Joshua for beating Wladimir Klitschko at the weekend — but thinks the Brit is still not the finished article.

“Joshua impressed with me his heart [survivor’s ability],” said Atlas on Thaboxingvoice.

“He’s fought internationally and has Olympic pedigree but he’s obviously still a work in progress. He still has some flaws.

Reflecting on the Klitschko fight, Atlas listed three things Joshua has to work on:

Joshua “reached in a couple times.” This can leave a fighter off-balance.
“He got a little right hand crazy.” The suggestion from Atlas here is, Joshua was too hungry for the knockout and relied too much on his strong right hand.
“He got away from his jab.” Joshua abandoned some of the basics of boxing.

“These things can happen,” Atlas said. “But hopefully he has more belief and gets more consistent in areas like using his jab. Just stay with the jab.”

Christian Petersen / Getty Images

Atlas (left) helped Cus D’Amato train Mike Tyson in the early 1980s and since worked for Michael Moorer, Alexander Povetkin, and Timothy Bradley (right).

Atlas even intimated that the flaws Joshua showed against Klitschko could provide future opponents with a blueprint to beat him. The only reason Klitschko was unable to get the win was because of one glaring error, he said.

“Klitschko let Joshua off the hook. He had Joshua badly hurt in the sixth round but he never went to the body after.”

Elaborating on how Klitschko could have finished Joshua, Atlas said: “Body punches would have frozen that survival instinct, [slowed] that head movement, and his other punches would have landed.”

For all his flaws though Joshua is still the IBF, WBA, and IBO heavyweight champion. Atlas added: “Look, he’s a work in progress but he’s still in a pretty good place!”