In boxing or in football, Teddy Atlas speaks the truth
2010-02-17

In boxing or in football, Teddy Atlas speaks the truth: Boxing Insider

By Joe Maxse
Cleveland.com
February 17, 2010
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/02/in_boxing_or_in_football_teddy.html


When Teddy Atlas talks, people listen.

That goes for football players as well as boxers.

Atlas will be in town for the ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" at Cleveland State's Wolstein Center. He'll be the ringside analyst for the nationally televised show headlined by Cleveland junior middleweight Shawn Porter'sbout against Russell Jordan of Rochester, N.Y.

Atlas, a friend of Browns coach Eric Mangini, was here in December to talk to the Browns the night before they defeated Oakland.

The native of Staten Island, N.Y., talked to the New York Jets when Mangini was there and when Bill Parcells was coach. Whether it's boxing or football, Atlas tells it like it is.

"Jim Brown sat in and it was an emotional speech," said Atlas, who trained Mike Tyson in the amateur ranks before an infamous falling out episode involving a gun.

"They had won two straight, and I applauded them for that. It wasn't an accident. I talked about how they had the opportunity to change the landscape, the culture, that they could show people you can turn things around."

When Atlas is here, he will visit with his son, Teddy III, who has worked the past year with the Browns in the video department. The trainer said his son would like to find a career in the NFL, just like Mangini.

When it comes to boxing, Atlas said he is just like the fans. He wants to see the best matches made and not so many of the mismatches that seem to dominate at times.

"I don't get disgusted with the fighters," said Atlas during the phone conversation. "But I do with the administrators, the matchmakers, promoters, managers, even the commissions and the ratings organizations."

Atlas wants a return to the period such as the 1980s, when fighters like Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns took on all comers and each other.

"You shouldn't have to wait like you are crawling across a desert to have the best fight the best," said Atlas. "That's what is missing, all the consistency. We have one of those big days once in a while. What about all those other days?"