Tom Aspinall has been praised by boxing trainer and analyst Teddy Atlas for showing the benefits of his early-career training with Tyson Fury.
The Salford fighter at one point considered changing careers from MMA to boxing while training with the Fury family, including world heavyweight champion Tyson, top contender Hughie and prospect Tommy. But he opted to continue with MMA, finally making it to the UFC in 2020 and bursting on to the scene to become a major player in his five fights since.
And Atlas believes that the training between Aspinall and high level boxers such as Tyson Fury has shown in his recent performances. He has shown a propensity for stopping fights early, and broke the record for the quickest time to reach five UFC wins when he submitted Alexander Volkov on Saturday night at UFC London in The O2 Arena.
And despite the fact that he won by submission, Atlas believes that he displayed what he had learned from Fury in his first UFC main event. "It showed," he said on his podcast The Fight . "I'm not there to see it, but I don't have to be. Being around Tyson Fury and whatever that work really is, whatever the the true amount of work, I don't know, that he does with Fury in his camp, it showed."
The night appeared to be all about the return of Paddy Pimblett in what was dubbed 'the people's main event', but that didn't stop Atlas from noting that with Aspinall, a star may have been born over the weekend. "Not quite to the level [of Paddy Pimblett]," Atlas admitted. "Because of all the other factors and elements that I already went over that are attached to a Paddy 'The Baddy'.
"He's got the charisma, the it factor, all of that stuff. But [Aspinall] did himself well. He really made a hit - he got my attention, but he got Dana White's attention. He got the audience's attention, of what he didn't already have - he did a great job of announcing himself to the party."
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And Atlas believes that Aspinall's boxing was that of a legitimate heavyweight prospect, which wouldn't be a surprise given that he began a professional career under the tutelage of Team Fury. "I saw a good conventional fighter," Atlas continued. "I saw a good solid, in my sport, boxer whose legs are always under him.
"He's a guy who's looking to go forward in a responsible, proper, technical way, a guy that is always looking to punch with power because he's got the right technique, his legs are under him, he's not leaning. He doesn't get ahead of the bottom portion of himself which always has to be there for the upper portion to deliver at its best with balance.
"I saw a guy moving his head like a professional fighter, throwing the right punches, not with the big loops in them like with some of these guys, nice straight, fundamental, solid punches, accurate with decent hand speed. I thought I was watching an heavyweight prospect for a minute there, from my business!"
