Should ESPN replace Teddy Atlas with somebody better?

[Derranged]

What is your problem with Atlas? For years you've been hating on him. He really isnt that bad.

[Ken-Kaniff]

IS THIS A SERIOUS ****IN QUESTION? Teddy Atlas is my favorite. Do you want some old boring dueche from HBO to take his spot or something. Get the **** outta NSB.

[The Hammer]

What is your problem with Atlas? For years you've been hating on him. He really isnt that bad.

Realy? According to the poll result, nearly half the fans want him to be replaced.

I think his negativity turns casual fans away from the sport of boxing.

[The Hammer]

The Teddy Atlas - Donny LaLonde story:

Fight News recent interview with ESPN commentator and trainer Teddy Atlas has drawn quite the reaction from fight fans all across North America. In the exclusive interview, Atlas touched on having to go to Winnipeg and broadcast a fight of Donny Lalonde in 2003, a former world champion on the comeback trail at the time, and somebody Atlas had trained years previous. It is revealed in his book, "Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's struggle to Become a Man," that Atlas came very close to murdering the 'Golden Boy' from Winnipeg in his New York City apartment, many years previous to their reunion in Winnipeg. In the book, Atlas describes getting a gun and going into the city, ready to get the job done.

Getting buzzed into the building by another tenant and knocking on Lalonde's door. "If he had opened the door, he was dead," Atlas writes, "I would have pulled the trigger, turned around, and walked away."

Teddy waited through the night, waited for Lalonde to return, phoning the apartment periodically. When he finally got through, Lalonde's girlfriend picked up. Atlas asked if Donny was there, and when the answer came back yes, he hung up and started making his way over to the apartment, still intent to finish the job he came to do. Somewhere during that walk, Atlas changed his mind, for whatever reason, he decided not to go down the path that would take Lalonde's life and forever alter his own, likely ruining it.

Lalonde who had let Atlas go as a trainer, had no idea how close he actually was to dieing, had no idea that had he not been out that evening, he would have likely been dead. He found out two weeks ago.

"The first I heard of this was about two weeks ago from a friend and former fighter Danny Vandal, the former mayor of Winnipeg," Lalonde tells fight news from his beachfront home in Costa Rica. "It actually didn't even surprise me when I heard it. Teddy got into fights with trainers and fighters quite a bit when I was with him. He may not be the most stable person walking around."

Lalonde wanted to set the record straight, "I feel compelled to communicate with the boxing community the accurate truth of his inaccurate comments," the 41-5-1 fighter told us, adding that he has no recollection of the particular evening in question, "I don't remember any of it. Maybe he said it to sell his book, maybe he did that. I hope not for his sake. Sounds pretty demented to me. I feel sorry for him.

"Teddy always prided himself on being such a man of morals and values. Can you imagine being that disturbed by being fired? Sounds like he needs some therapy to me." At the heart of the matter was Atlas being let go by Lalonde. The money aspect of walking away from Mike Tyson was never important according to Atlas, but the potential money he lost out by the Lalonde split had him seething well past the first WBC super-middleweight championship fight ever with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1988 and well past the time Atlas had a heavyweight world champion in Michael Moorer in 1994.

"I understand that Teddy suggests that he trained me for two years, was instrumental in my success, and that he was fired just short of him
benefiting by being involved in the financial success of my career. Had he still been my trainer when I fought Ray Leonard, he would have earned $600,000 and he refers to that in the book.

"In case Teddy doesn't realize he actually only trained me for one year of a 23 year professional career. Look at my record; it was one year and one month exactly. Teddy Atlas was my trainer for 8 fights of my 47 fight career."

Lalonde who refers to Atlas as a "certifiable nutcase" points out that his former trainer even gets the apartment wrong that he painstakingly describes in great detail, talking of walking through the rain to 50 Barrow Street. "I bought a condo on Bleeker and Broadway in June of '87," said Lalonde, "I lived there at the time. He thinks he was at Dave's (manager Dave Wolf) old apartment that I lived in when Teddy trained me."

Also disputed by Lalonde is him asking Atlas to manage him and being refused and told instead that Dave Wolf would be the best fit. Lalonde describes his quest for a manager that eventually would lead him to Wolf and subsequently Atlas as trainer.

"As I did in looking for the best help in the gym by seeking out Marvin
Johnson for the toughest sparring I could find, my next step was finding the best manager in the game. I called Mike Trainer who managed both Ray Leonard and Shawn O'Sullivan the Canadian that won a gold medal in the previous Olympics. My other hope for a manager was David Wolf who managed Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini as well as others. At the time they were the most successful mangers in the game and both were respected as the two best. As a matter of logistics I ended up visiting Mike Trainer first in Maryland at his office.

Mike was very kind but he was unable to help me he said because he had committed to Ray and Shawn to not take on any more fighters so he could concentrate on their respective careers. I then asked Mike who he thought would be the best choice for me in the game as a manager. Mike didn't have to think about it, he said David Wolf. I told him that I had already spoken to Dave, I thanked him and contacting Dave was my next move.

"I contacted Dave and having seen my fights against Willie Edwards and the ESPN fight. Dave was interested enough to invite me to N.Y. to visit him and talk to him about the possibility of us working together.

"Dave and I made an agreement and his first priority was to move me to N.Y. He, at the time managed Donny Poole also from Canada and Teddy was Donny's trainer, Dave suggested that we try working with Teddy."

It was not a relationship that would last, and one that has Lalonde ranking the D'Amato protégé at the bottom of his list of trainers. "I can't honestly say that I retained much if anything that I was taught by Teddy. Teddy too was a part of the whole but a VERY insignificant part I must say. The least significant of ALL my trainers throughout my career in fact.

"Overall I was injured a lot while with Teddy and he refused to acknowledge these injuries which made them worse. By trying to "be a man" as Teddy would say. My injuries are so documented, he is completely nuts, as if two shoulder surgeries and many subsequent tears are "in my head", both hands broken and incorrectly aligned wouldn't have something to do with my injuries? Again, "in my head" he had to convince me I wanted to fight??

"After one year of struggling to establish a cohesive relationship with
Teddy, Dave and I decided that it was in our best interest to try another trainer.

[The Hammer]

Continued...

"Teddy is well known, he is a good self promoter so I don't have to get into who he is but as it related to me his training style was not effective for me and that is all I really have to say about him as a trainer. I was World rated before I met Teddy, I was World rated when I left Teddy but more likely because David had earned such respect with sanctioning organizations with his work with Ray Mancini than my ring performances.

"Generally speaking I performed poorly when I was being trained by Teddy as his focus on negativity had reduced my overall confidence in myself."

The heart of the matter as it relates the dispute, as it usually is in
boxing, is money. Michael Spinks had plans on vacating his strangle-hold on the light-heavyweight division, creating a trio of vacancies. Atlas and Wolf believed that with the proper maneuvering and the proper training, Lalonde could be moved into one of those three vacant belts at 175 pounds. Atlas was gone by the time the 'Golden Boy' captured gold in 1987, winning the vacant WBC light heavyweight championship against Eddie Davis with a second round stoppage.

A successful defense of the title followed, and then the multi-million dollar payday. With Vince McMahon of WWE wrestling fame handling the promotion for the pay-per-view, Donny Lalonde and Sugar Ray Leonard would meet not only for Lalonde's light-heavy belt, but also the newly created super-middleweight belt at 168 pounds. For Leonard, a chance at an unprecedented five championships at five different weight categories.

For Lalonde, a unique unification opportunity in which he would drop down to 167 pounds and fight for two belts at once, and get paid six million for doing it.

"When he made six million for Leonard, it tore me up," writes Atlas in the HarperCollins published book, "It made me murderous."

Ten percent of six-mill is certainly a nice payday any day of the week, and while Atlas was left without a cent of it, Lalonde does wish he had divvied it up a bit different. After the split, Wolf suggested to Lalonde that the duo of Tommy Gallagher and Bobby Cassidy might be the best match training wise. "They worked together at the time," said Lalonde. "I could always punch and after Tommy and Bobby spent about 6 months with me my confidence was at an all time high going into the fight against Mustafa Hamsho in N.Y. [his home town] at the Garden, in May of the following year. After that I won the World title, defended it and the fight with Ray Leonard came about.

Bobby Cassidy was really most significant in that run of fights as a
trainer. Tommy Gallagher was part of the team, definitely part of the whole in respect to trainers, a much bigger part than Teddy, but I connected most with Bobby and his past experience as a pro fighter and his style as a trainer was VERY helpful to me. If there was anyone that independently earned that $600,000 that Teddy feels he was entitled to it was Bobby who didn't get any because he was not available at the time for personal
reasons.

"Tommy was very instrumental in making the Leonard fight. He helped Dave in a sense of a manger as it relates to that fight, and in retrospect really should have been paid by Dave from his managerial end. He trained me for the Leonard fight but it was Bobby who really got me there as a trainer.

"If I could take it all back I would love to have given that $600,000 to ALL of these men proportionately because they were all a necessary part of the whole."

It was his relationship with Gallagher that Lalonde believes is the true heart of the rift between them. "He knocks Tommy as "some ex cop" as my trainer. Tommy did more for me and my career than Teddy would even know needed to be done. When Teddy was with me he was a kid. He was trained by Cus D'Amato to be a trainer but Tommy was a fighter, NY GG be it, but still a real man and a fighter, not some wanna-be that uses his past with one fighter as an assistant, that 25 years later is still his claim to fame.

Tommy and Bobby trained me to a championship and Teddy can't stand it.

"I think that he is so upset that his favorite fighter, a person I liked
very much and we had a lot of good times together, Chris Reid, wasn't a success in the ring like Teddy thought he would be. It killed him that I was a success and he and Chris were not. I cried when I heard about Chris's untimely death, he was a wonderful person who, if it wasn't for Teddy, I would have most likely remained friends with until his death."

Lalonde refutes just about everything in the chapter written about him from being accused of being a con-man.. "In regards to my being a bleach blond and a fake and a con man, other than the blond, he sounds like exactly what he accuses me of. Teddy, I was a fighter before and after I was trained by you. I did more in a boxing ring than you could even dream of accomplishing.

For a guy as injured as I was I am very proud of my accomplishments in the ring. Teddy Atlas can not take that from me, no one can."

On Atlas as part of the ESPN crew in Winnipeg for Lalonde's last career fight... "In Winnipeg he was very invisible. I guess he was obligated so he was there but he didn't talk to me ever. He attempted to minimize my career as much as possible and what was actually happening in the ring was never really referred to, he did a very minimalist job that day just to get through. I regreted agreeing to him participating in the telecaste as I knew that no matter what happened he would try to hurt me and he essentially did with his comments in a very subtle way. No problem, with one eye I left him an opening and he took it."

On running into Atlas in Las Vegas for Michael Moorer-Evander Holyfield championship fight.... I was with my wife at the Moorer-Holyfield fight. I saw Teddy and was just happy for him and at the same time you could say proud of him for what he had accomplished as a trainer. Remember he was about a 30 year old kid when he trained me. I was happy for him. He trained the heavyweight champion of the world. Has to be the ultimate goal as a trainer? I was happy for him. I had accomplished all I could have dreamed of in teh sport and had been retired at that point. I thought and said to me wife, "who knows how he will respond but I want to congratulate him". I walked up to Teddy and said, Teddy congratulations, I am so happy for you.

"He turned around like a raging maniac and went into some tirade about not wanting to shake my hand. I didn't really hear what he was saying, he didn't realize it was me that he was shaking hands with. When he did, he went off.

I said I am sorry you feel this way in such a high point in your life and walked away. I really feel sorry for him. He was always off the wall but I still hoped the best for him."

To fighting stiffs... "The reason I fought some stiffs when I was with him is a direct result of what he DID to me as a fighter, look at my career before and after and you can see it was much better ANY time I wasn't with Teddy. Sorry Teddy but the proof is in the record books. I was the Champion of the World!!"

To fighting a "SHOT" Eddie Davis.. "The SHOT Eddie Davis I fought had won 7 since narrowly losing to Michael Spinks and lost 1 to Marvin Johnson before I fought him and Michael won 6 fights against heavyweights after Eddie beat him. According to the record books Edie was 36 years old and prime for a victory. For a guy as limited as Teddy suggests I was, I sure got lucky."

While he admits that Atlas did get under his skin a bit, Lalonde says he is very happy with his life right now and wishes his former coach the same. "I congratulate Teddy on his success as a trainer, I was very happy for his family and I hope he gets the psychiatric help he apparently needs.

"I sincerely think he is delusional or desperate to sell books or for some reason he has this against me and can't get over it. I hope he does one day, it must be terrible to feel this way and actually believe the BS he is saying which it sounds like he does. "I live on a beach, raise my wonderful children, have been married 15 years happily and look back on my career with great pride and I enjoy the memories so much."

[paulf]

Do you think ESPN should replace Teddy Atlas with a better commentator/analyst?

Perhaps someone more objective and intelligent?

Someone who is more personable and has a more positive attitude?

I realize Teddy is not a fan of Wlad/Vitali and trains Povetkin, but Teddy is the only good thing about ESPN. He always has a wisecrack joke or two, and his gameplan predictions he sets up for both guys are usually really really good.

I wouldnt want him on HBO or Showtime, but hes the perfect fit for ESPN FNF.

[Fish_Scotland]

Ah Teddy. You gotta love him and I only have limited experience of him but love him. Geeze if your putting down comments for a video game you'd hope they'd make sense but not Teddy, they are ****ing comical. I used to get Friday Night Fight about a week after in the early hours on normal TV but that seems to have disapeared (maybe some Brits can help, it was on C4 or C5 but I've not seen it in a while).

However having read the inserts from his book and the recent lie about Pac maybe having an entertaining nutter is not the best idea. I haven't voted as I don't get to hear him that often that being said surely having an ranting, on air, head case/possible maniac is fine for the american audience as you's have nationalist, racist and bias news networks such as Fox News that seem to still air without problems!

[The Hammer]

I realize Teddy is not a fan of Wlad/Vitali and trains Povetkin, but Teddy is the only good thing about ESPN. He always has a wisecrack joke or two, and his gameplan predictions he sets up for both guys are usually really really good.

I wouldnt want him on HBO or Showtime, but hes the perfect fit for ESPN FNF.

Paul, please read the article I posted above.

By the way, Teddy not only hates the Klitschkos, he hates Manny Pacquiao and other boxers as well. And for the wrong reasons.

[myCoCainE]

Put in Pac when he retires.

"I mean, he trained hard for this fight and 100% condition"
"That pants to da stomach make people happy!"

[Pocket Dogs!]

Paul, please read the article I posted above.

By the way, Teddy not only hates the Klitschkos, he hates Manny Pacquiao and other boxers as well. And for the wrong reasons.

I don't think he hates Manny. He doesn't give him that much credit though.