Teddy Atlas breaks down the Klitschkos

I just wanted to show you what Teddy recently said about the Klitschkos. http://fighthype.com/pages/content10366.html PC: You picked a little fun at the Haye/Klitschko fight, telling Wolak and Rodriguez if they could put on 70 pounds, they could have beaten either one of those guys. Obviously you were underwhelmed by that fight. TA: I just thought the opportunity was there for Haye, but he didn't reach out and grab it, which a lot of guys don't when they get in with Klitschko. They get intimidated by a combination of size and the strength in the right hand. But just the lacking of discipline and confidence and overall package of commitment that it takes nowadays to get the job done, it's not just physical ability, but it's the commitment and desire to get things done and the urgency to get things done. You just have to have an overall need to know that there is an opportunity there and you need to reach that opportunity from a mental and emotional level as much as any kind of physical output. These guys are just not solid mentally anymore for the most part, a lot of these fighters. You go back to the 20's, 30's and 40's, those guys behaved like fighters. If there was an opportunity to get to a fighter, they had the fortitude to get to them. And not just physically and technically, but mentally and emotionally because they were invested in one thing, if there was an opportunity to do something, you do it. You don't draw a line. These guys draw a line and say, "I'll do enough to survive," or "I'll do enough to be competitive," or "I'll do enough to see what happens." But from a mental standpoint, back in the old days, in anything in our society and as far as a professional place of work, guys wanted to do what was there to do. They had the attitude and there was a hardness. There was a hunger to do whatever it is you were there to do. If you had a carpenter in the old days and the carpenter came to your house and something wasn't just right with those cabinets, you couldn't throw the damn guy out of your house. He would stay there. He didn't care about the money or getting two more days pay because he was going to be there two more days. He cared about his reputation. He cared that he was supposed to get that done at a certain level and a certain standard. You couldn't throw him out of there without him saying, "I'm coming back tomorrow and I'm going to smooth that out; I'm going to add that and I didn't figure on that, so I'm going to come here and build that up a little bit more." And he would do it because that's what he did because he was a freaking carpenter and he took pride in what he did. There was a demand to be everything that he is supposed to be. The same thing with a doctor. A doctor didn't say, "Well, you don't have the coverage, I can't finish the job. I can't come and do a house call because I don't get paid extra for that." No, because they were committed to the job. They were committed to the profession; that they were supposed to behave at all times like a doctor and do what a doctor should do, and that's take care of that patient to whatever level it meant to go to. It was the same thing with the ball player; everything. It wasn't just about what they were getting paid. There was an urgency. It was a developed and committed urgency in everybody to be everything that you could be. That's all a guy like Haye would need to beat a Klitschko. The opportunity was there. He was standing straight up where you couldn't miss him if you stepped...all he had to do was 3 things; step to him behind your jab, move your head, and then throw the right hand. And then once you caught him with the right hand, just stay in position to throw other punches. Continue to step to him because once you caught him, he was going to pull straight back to try and defend himself. He wasn't going to weave or slip; he was going to pull straight back, and he was going to continue to be vulnerable. But guys don't do that. They throw one punch and that's it because again, there is not any urgency or commitment to go in after what's there. They are already satisfied that they are getting paid a lot of money in the fight and there is no need to step over the line. There is not even a thought or connection to have to think that way. Again, back in the old days, the ball players or whatever they did or whatever profession they happened to be committed to, they had the attitude of, "I'm not only going to give you $50 worth because you paid $50." They were going to do everything that was part of being whatever it is that they were. You can see that that's just not the case. And like I said about Wolak and Rodriguez, if the heavyweights, with their ability and the size and their physical assets that they have, if they had that approach and that hunger...if you want to use a simple word and you just want to say hunger or urgency or commitment, they would all knock out Klitschko. I'm not joking. They would knock Klitschko out every freaking Saturday night that they fought him (laughing). Because the opportunity is there and it's so basic and obvious and so there. You just have to know what you are doing and have a certain amount of physical ability. But these guys do have enough physical ability. Haye had enough physical ability. It's the attachment with that physical ability is what I'm talking about. That's what they don't have. They don't have that, "I'm going to go after him. There is a chance to get him this way, so you know what? That's what I'm going to do until I get him." But that's unfortunately a lacking area in the heavyweight boxing game and a major disconnect in that. The old time fighters, they all had it. Some were better than others. Some of them had better physical abilities and different styles, but every one of them had the mental capacity to be able to go in there and behave like a fighter and do what was there to be done.