Teddy Atlas: Ilia Topuria has 'supreme confidence' like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali

USA Today

4 days ago

Teddy Atlas is in awe of Ilia Topuria's confidence.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), a former UFC featherweight champion and current lightweight champion, has looked unstoppable as of late, scoring three-straight knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and most recently Charles Oliveira at UFC 317.
Prior to challenging Volkanovski for the featherweight title, Topuria placed "UFC champion" on his social media bio. Prior to beating Oliveira to claim the vacant 155-pound title, "El Matador" held a victory party. Atlas compared his self belief to two boxing legends.
"Ilia Topuria, he'd be great to have on that White House lawn," Atlas said in an interview with BetVictor Online Casinos. "But for me, what makes him so special, Cus (D'Amato) once said to me that if somebody ever gets supreme confidence, it makes them very rare. It makes them very hard to beat and supreme confidence the way that he identified it and explained it to me was very rare in a way, that he only knew two people that ever had it: Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali.
"And what it means is, it's an ability, not just confidence, but it's a belief that you just can't get beat. You go into the ring completely believing that there is nothing on earth that will keep you from winning that match. And even though they didn't win all their fights, they had that belief."
Atlas wants to see Topuria take part in a mega fight on next year's White House event.
"Topuria and (Paddy) Pimblett would be a good combination on the White House lawn because even though Pimblett doesn't have the skills that he has, Pimblett is more known because he's very creative, and he's very good at promoting himself," Atlas said.
"One thing about Pimblett: I had him on my podcast, when he was just coming up, and they were looking to make him a star. I said, 'Let me give you one piece of advice,' and he's a good kid, he said. 'Sure, Teddy, what is that?' I said, 'Keep your chin down. You've got it up.' The old timer would say, 'It's like a lantern in the storm.'"