Teddy Atlas
Encyclopedia
Theodore A. "Teddy" Atlas, Jr. (b. 29 July 1954, in Staten Island
, New York
) is a well-known boxing trainer and fight commentator.
. His mother Mari Ryan Atlas was a former contestant in the Miss America pageant system, as well as a model. His father was of Hungarian - Jewish descent. Teddy spent summers in Spring Lake New Jersey, with his family's friends. By his own admission, Atlas had a somewhat troubled, rebellious youth. He dropped out of school and was arrested several times. He participated in an armed robbery and served time on Riker’s Island. Atlas was involved in a street fight in Stapleton, Staten Island in which his face was severely slashed with a "007" flip-knife. The wound took four hundred stitches in total to close, with 200 on the outside of his face and 200 on the inside. The attack him with a distinctive scar. He is currently married to Elaine, where they have two children together, Teddy III and Nicole.
In 1997, he founded the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation to honor the memory of his late father. The Foundation awards scholarships and grants to individuals and organizations. Atlas published his autobiography, Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man, in 2006. The book covers many different periods of Atlas's life, and compares his position as trainer to a role as a father.
trainer Cus D'Amato. He had some amateur fights, winning the 139lb Adirondack
Golden Gloves
title before retiring due to a back injury. Atlas became an assistant to D'Amato. His duties included assisting in the training of D'Amato's teenage protege Mike Tyson
. However, Atlas left the camp in 1982 following an altercation with the 15 year old Tyson after Tyson had been sexually inappropriate with a 12 year old female relative of Atlas's (Tyson said he had grabbed the girl's buttocks). Atlas put a .38 caliber handgun to Tyson's ear and told him to never touch his family again or he would murder him.
Atlas enjoyed his biggest success as a head trainer with Michael Moorer
, whom he guided to the world heavyweight title in 1994. He drew criticism for what some considered to be overly dramatic speeches in the ring corner, particularly during Moorer's Heavyweight
title fight with Evander Holyfield
, and some felt he did these antics to draw attention to himself rather than help his fighter, during one such speech Atlas blocked Moorer from sitting on his stool and asked "Do you want me to take over?" Atlas has denied this, stating that he did what he believed the fighter needed based on his understanding of the fighter. Moorer went on to defeat Holyfield by a majority decision.
He worked the corner of Featherweight
world champion Barry McGuigan
in one fight, and Light-Heavyweight Donny Lalonde
. Lalonde went 8-0 with Atlas as his trainer, but they clashed in temperament and style. "He ran things like an army camp," Lalonde said, "I'm more of a free spirit." He and Atlas parted ways, and Lalonde hired Tommy Gallagher as his new trainer. In his autobiography, Atlas claimed he was so angry at having been fired by LaLonde that went to LaLonde's house with a gun intending to kill him. However, LaLonde refuted Atlas's story, claiming he did not even live at the apartment Atlas described at the time. LaLonde also called Atlas "the least significant of all my trainers throughout my career"
On April 3, 2009 while covering the "Heavyweight Collision" card at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles California, featuring former WBC Heavyweight Champion Samuel Peter
and IBF ranked Number 3 heavyweight "Fast" Eddie Chambers
, Atlas revealed that he had been approached by Samuel Peter's team to take over as head trainer. Atlas went to Las Vegas where the Nigerian-born Peter currently resides and spent a couple of days in the team, but did not take the job as he wanted Peter to relocate to New York where Atlas would have been able to train him full time.
In 2009, Atlas began training Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin
as Povetkin prepared for an eventual title match against Wladimir Klitschko
. Atlas advised Povetkin to pull out of a title fight at the last moment, claiming his powerful promoter was too greedy and would have left his fighter with too little money. Atlas said that Povetkin "wasn't ready" for Klitschko, and used as an example to show his impartiality, that he was giving up the trainer's cut of $200,000 so as to "protect" his fighter. Atlas also called the promoter a "punk" who was protected by his family's money.
On the 27th of August, 2011, with Atlas in his corner, Alexander Povetkin
won the WBA heavyweight championship, beating Ruslan Chagaev
in a unanimous decision. (117-113, 117-113 and 116-112)
's coverage of the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000
), Athens (2004
) and Beijing (2008
).
Atlas currently serves as commentator on ESPN2
's Friday Night Fights and Wednesday Night Fights. In 2001, he won the Sam Taub Award
for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism., and was a contributor on the legendary fight doctor's Ferdie Pacheco
's 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing on DVD, on which he stated that in the first Ali-Liston fight the famous "blind round" in which Ali could not see after being hit by Liston's gloves which had been smeared in a substance that temporarily blinded Ali. Atlas stated he would have refused to have cut Ali's gloves off and would have simply sent him out with the advice to just "run".
On January 25, 2008, Atlas was suspended by ESPN twice, once for threatening a crew member and once (for one week) after confronting the network's boxing program director, Doug Loughrey. Atlas accused Loughrey of showing favoritism to certain promoters and matchmakers, who were abusing their ESPN connections by taking fighters from other promoters with promises of potential ESPN dates.
In May 2008, Atlas did not appear in ESPN's Friday Night Fights broadcasts after his wife Elaine required major surgery in their native New York. Although he was able to do Wednesday night's fight, he decided not to do Friday Fight Night. This was mentioned in the broadcast by ESPN anchorman and temporary commentator for the night Brian Kenny who also stated that Atlas had been at his wife's bedside even sleeping by her side.
Teddy is also featured as a member of the in-game commentary team on Fight Night Round 4
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) is a well-known boxing trainer and fight commentator.
Personal life
The son of a doctor, Atlas grew up in a wealthy area of Staten IslandStaten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. His mother Mari Ryan Atlas was a former contestant in the Miss America pageant system, as well as a model. His father was of Hungarian - Jewish descent. Teddy spent summers in Spring Lake New Jersey, with his family's friends. By his own admission, Atlas had a somewhat troubled, rebellious youth. He dropped out of school and was arrested several times. He participated in an armed robbery and served time on Riker’s Island. Atlas was involved in a street fight in Stapleton, Staten Island in which his face was severely slashed with a "007" flip-knife. The wound took four hundred stitches in total to close, with 200 on the outside of his face and 200 on the inside. The attack him with a distinctive scar. He is currently married to Elaine, where they have two children together, Teddy III and Nicole.
In 1997, he founded the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation to honor the memory of his late father. The Foundation awards scholarships and grants to individuals and organizations. Atlas published his autobiography, Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man, in 2006. The book covers many different periods of Atlas's life, and compares his position as trainer to a role as a father.
Career as a trainer
Teddy Atlas trained as an amateur boxer with Hall of FameInternational Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
trainer Cus D'Amato. He had some amateur fights, winning the 139lb Adirondack
Adirondack
__notoc__Adirondack may refer to:*Adirondack Mountains, *Adirondack County, New York, a proposed county in New York...
Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
title before retiring due to a back injury. Atlas became an assistant to D'Amato. His duties included assisting in the training of D'Amato's teenage protege Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
. However, Atlas left the camp in 1982 following an altercation with the 15 year old Tyson after Tyson had been sexually inappropriate with a 12 year old female relative of Atlas's (Tyson said he had grabbed the girl's buttocks). Atlas put a .38 caliber handgun to Tyson's ear and told him to never touch his family again or he would murder him.
Atlas enjoyed his biggest success as a head trainer with Michael Moorer
Michael Moorer
Michael Lee Moorer is a retired American boxer who is a former light heavyweight and heavyweight World Champion.-Biography:Moorer is a native of Monessen, Pennsylvania, which is in Southwestern Pennsylvania.-Professional career:...
, whom he guided to the world heavyweight title in 1994. He drew criticism for what some considered to be overly dramatic speeches in the ring corner, particularly during Moorer's Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
title fight with Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...
, and some felt he did these antics to draw attention to himself rather than help his fighter, during one such speech Atlas blocked Moorer from sitting on his stool and asked "Do you want me to take over?" Atlas has denied this, stating that he did what he believed the fighter needed based on his understanding of the fighter. Moorer went on to defeat Holyfield by a majority decision.
He worked the corner of Featherweight
Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...
world champion Barry McGuigan
Barry McGuigan
Finbarr Patrick McGuigan MBE , known as Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former Irish and British professional boxer who became a world featherweight champion.-Background:...
in one fight, and Light-Heavyweight Donny Lalonde
Donny Lalonde
Donny Lalonde is a retired professionalboxer. His nickname is "Golden Boy," after the Golden Boy statue atop the Manitoba Legislative Building in his boxing home town of Winnipeg. Lalonde held the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship from 1987 to 1988.-Early life:Lalonde was one of four children...
. Lalonde went 8-0 with Atlas as his trainer, but they clashed in temperament and style. "He ran things like an army camp," Lalonde said, "I'm more of a free spirit." He and Atlas parted ways, and Lalonde hired Tommy Gallagher as his new trainer. In his autobiography, Atlas claimed he was so angry at having been fired by LaLonde that went to LaLonde's house with a gun intending to kill him. However, LaLonde refuted Atlas's story, claiming he did not even live at the apartment Atlas described at the time. LaLonde also called Atlas "the least significant of all my trainers throughout my career"
On April 3, 2009 while covering the "Heavyweight Collision" card at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles California, featuring former WBC Heavyweight Champion Samuel Peter
Samuel Peter
Samuel Okon Peter , nicknamed "The Nigerian Nightmare," is a professional heavyweight boxer and the former WBC heavyweight champion....
and IBF ranked Number 3 heavyweight "Fast" Eddie Chambers
Eddie Chambers
Edward "Eddie" Chambers is an American heavyweight boxer fighting out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Professional career:Eddie started boxing professionally in 2000 at the age of 18...
, Atlas revealed that he had been approached by Samuel Peter's team to take over as head trainer. Atlas went to Las Vegas where the Nigerian-born Peter currently resides and spent a couple of days in the team, but did not take the job as he wanted Peter to relocate to New York where Atlas would have been able to train him full time.
In 2009, Atlas began training Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin
Alexander Povetkin
Alexander Vladimirovich Povetkin is a Russian boxer. He is the current holder of the WBA heavyweight title. His height is . Because of his amateur success, as well as his early pro accomplishments, he is seen as a leading contender in professional boxing's Heavyweight division...
as Povetkin prepared for an eventual title match against Wladimir Klitschko
Wladimir Klitschko
Wladimir Klitschko is a Ukrainian heavyweight boxer. Klitschko is the WBA , IBF, WBO Super, IBO & Ring Magazine Champion. His older brother Vitali Klitschko is the current WBC champion...
. Atlas advised Povetkin to pull out of a title fight at the last moment, claiming his powerful promoter was too greedy and would have left his fighter with too little money. Atlas said that Povetkin "wasn't ready" for Klitschko, and used as an example to show his impartiality, that he was giving up the trainer's cut of $200,000 so as to "protect" his fighter. Atlas also called the promoter a "punk" who was protected by his family's money.
On the 27th of August, 2011, with Atlas in his corner, Alexander Povetkin
Alexander Povetkin
Alexander Vladimirovich Povetkin is a Russian boxer. He is the current holder of the WBA heavyweight title. His height is . Because of his amateur success, as well as his early pro accomplishments, he is seen as a leading contender in professional boxing's Heavyweight division...
won the WBA heavyweight championship, beating Ruslan Chagaev
Ruslan Chagaev
Ruslan Chagaev born October 19, 1978 in Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union) is an Uzbekistani former WBA heavyweight boxing champion of Tatar ethnicity...
in a unanimous decision. (117-113, 117-113 and 116-112)
Sportscasting
Atlas worked as boxing commentator for NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's coverage of the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000
Boxing at the 2000 Summer Olympics
The boxing competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney was held over a period of sixteen days at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour...
), Athens (2004
Boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place in the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall. The event was only open to men and bouts were contested over four rounds of two minutes each...
) and Beijing (2008
Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics
The boxing program of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China was held at the Workers Indoor Arena.Medals were awarded in eleven events, with each event corresponding to a recognized weight division of male boxers...
).
Atlas currently serves as commentator on ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
's Friday Night Fights and Wednesday Night Fights. In 2001, he won the Sam Taub Award
Sam Taub Award
The Sam Taub Award is a yearly award presented by the International Boxing Hall of Fame for Excellence in Broadcasting Journalism. The award is named after Sam Taub, a journalist and radio broadcaster who is best known for his work covering boxing. It is similar to Major League Baseball's Ford C....
for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism., and was a contributor on the legendary fight doctor's Ferdie Pacheco
Ferdie Pacheco
Dr. Ferdie Pacheco was the cornerman for multiple boxing champions, most famously Muhammad Ali, for whom he was also a personal physician. Beginning in the late 1970s, Pacheco was a TV boxing analyst for several networks, most notably Showtime. Pacheco is also a prolific author and painter...
's 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing on DVD, on which he stated that in the first Ali-Liston fight the famous "blind round" in which Ali could not see after being hit by Liston's gloves which had been smeared in a substance that temporarily blinded Ali. Atlas stated he would have refused to have cut Ali's gloves off and would have simply sent him out with the advice to just "run".
On January 25, 2008, Atlas was suspended by ESPN twice, once for threatening a crew member and once (for one week) after confronting the network's boxing program director, Doug Loughrey. Atlas accused Loughrey of showing favoritism to certain promoters and matchmakers, who were abusing their ESPN connections by taking fighters from other promoters with promises of potential ESPN dates.
In May 2008, Atlas did not appear in ESPN's Friday Night Fights broadcasts after his wife Elaine required major surgery in their native New York. Although he was able to do Wednesday night's fight, he decided not to do Friday Fight Night. This was mentioned in the broadcast by ESPN anchorman and temporary commentator for the night Brian Kenny who also stated that Atlas had been at his wife's bedside even sleeping by her side.
Teddy is also featured as a member of the in-game commentary team on Fight Night Round 4
Fight Night Round 4
Fight Night Round 4 garnered positive reaction from critics for its strategic gameplay and strong multiplayer component. The PlayStation 3 version received an 87.89% and an 88% from review aggregate websites GameRankings and MetaCritic respectively...