Teddy Atlas

Theodore A. Atlas, Jr. (b. 29 July 1956, in Staten Island, New York) is a well-known boxing trainer and fight commentator. The son of a doctor, Atlas grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Staten Island.

Teddy Atlas trained as an amateur boxer briefly with Hall of Fame trainer Cus D'Amato s/ But he was forced to retire after suffering a back injury. Atlas was made a trainer by D'Amato, and he was put in charge of training D'Amato's protege Mike Tyson. However, Atlas felt D'Amato ought to discipline the young Tyson for his frequent bouts of petty thuggery and clashes with police. He finally took matters into his his own hands after Tyson had groped Atlas's 13 year old niece by the buttocks. Atlas waited for Tyson to return, put a gun to his head, and fired off a shot.

D'Amato again refused to discipline Tyson and sacked Atlas. Many feel that had D'Amato backed Atlas, Tyson may not have suffered his later troubles. A day before his rematch with Evander Holyfield, Atlas correctly predicted that "He's [Tyson] going to get himself disqualified. He'll bite Holyfield. He'll butt him. He'll hit him low. He'll do something if he don't get him early with a lucky shot. I know this guy. He's got this all set up in his mind. That's the only way he can face it. That's what this is all about." [ [http://www.salon.com/july97/news/news2970710.html A coward and his due ] ] He was proven right when Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ears.

Atlas enjoyed his greatest professional success as a head trainer with Michael Moorer. He also 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. Atlas has denied this, [Newman, Sean., [http://www.ringsidereport.com/Sean072704.htm Ringside Report Interviews Teddy Atlas] , "Ringsidereport.com", 2004-07-24, Retrieved on 2007-03-10.] 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 also trained Featherweight world champion Barry McGuigan and Canadian Light-Heavyweight Donny Lalonde.

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 worked as boxing commentator for NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008). [ [http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/mediumwell/blog/2008/07/your_nbc_olympics_lineup.html Medium Well: Your NBC Olympics lineup - A blog on sports media, news and networks - baltimoresun.com ] ]

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.

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. [ [http://www.ibhof.com/ibhfbwaa.htm Internantional Boxing Hall of Fame / BWAA Awards ] ]

On January 25, 2008, Atlas was suspended by ESPN for one week, after confronting the network's boxing program director, Doug Loughrey, over allegedly 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. [cite web
last =Reeno
first =Rick
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =ESPN Suspends Teddy Atlas For One Week
work =BoxingScene.com
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date =2008-01-25
url =http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=12295
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accessdate =2008-01-26 ]

In May this year Atlas did not appear in ESPN's Friday Night Fight's broadcaster 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.

References

External links

* [http://www.dratlasfoundation.com/ Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation]
* [http://www.njboxinghof.org/cgi-bin/henryseehof.pl?510 New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame profile]