Does Anyone Agree With Teddy Atlas' Latest Take on Mike Tyson?

[QueensburyRules]

Cus used to call Atlas the Young Master. Teddy was in the middle of serving his apprenticeship period under the experienced vet and is surely angry that this was cut short due to Tyson and his own reaction.

Can’t blame him really.

- - No, can’t blame Teddy for being a soft lad wanting to be a hard guy…thanks for the reminder…

[Tatabanya]

He didn't hand the pool cue over to Evander and disappeared for the rest of the night out of respect. You're still not getting it.

Not at that very moment, but that episode surely contributed to raise his level of respect for him afterwards. When it comes to attributing qualities to people one meets throughout their lives, memories work quite fine.

[Zaroku]

- - No, can’t blame Teddy for being a soft lad wanting to be a hard guy…thanks for the reminder…

Can always count on you to
make me smile!!!

nice post

[kara]

You bring up Evander, let me just add this very interesting short story that really says it all.


As per Talk Sport, Borges said, “One of the things I knew, dating back to when Holyfield and Tyson were amateurs, was the pool table incident. One night they were all playing pool at the Olympic Training Center in 1984 and it was one of those deals where if you lost, you gave up the table.”

He added, “Tyson lost and it was Holyfield’s turn to play. Tyson tried to bully him. Holyfield walked up to Tyson, didn’t say a word and took the cue stick from him. Tyson left the room and nobody saw him for the rest of the night. I always had it in the back of my mind that Tyson knew if there was one guy he couldn’t intimidate, it was Evander Holyfield.”

Tyson may have also learned this whilst engaging in sparring sessions with ‘The Real Deal’ once no other boxer wanted to spar with him as an amateur.
https://www.essentiallysports.com/bo...der-holyfield/


So with that, I must correct myself from earlier when I stated Teddy Atlas was the only one who knew how to correct Mike Tyson.

Razor didnt seem too intimidated IMO

[Ivich]

His son has become a decent matchmaker at Matchroom

Glad to hear it ,but apart from taking over from Cus and Teddy as Tysons trainer and working the corner of an older Vinny Paz ,what are Kevin's credentials to make him a HOF trainer?

[Ivich]

IQ tests are not the most reliable, though. Look where Tyson is today, both as an entrepreneur and in general as a public figure, in opposition to Holyfield himself, or someone like Bobby Czyz.

Czyz boasted his Mensa membership with a very high IQ. But his life - characterized by several DUI arrests, the loss of his commentator position at Showtime, and bankruptcy after more troubles - proved otherwise.

Ultimately, Tyson paid a price for what he did in his youth, and openly admitted being a poor human being on multiple occasions.

I have never placed much gravitas on IQ results,I scored well on them twice when I was a young man,but I consider myself of average intelligence.
As far as Czyz is concerned,a high IQ doesnt mean you have a lot of common sense.

[Ivich]

I believe the Teddy Atlas story shows that Tyson was being taught entitlement.

When the Tyson-Atlas 'thing' played out it was Atlas who was cut loose, not Tyson reined in. I think it says much about what Gus was willing to tolerate, or to give up, to have the next HW Champion of the World.

A justified failure I supose.

But as BKM says above, maybe it was inevitable and Gus never had a chance. But I question if he was actually trying or selling out.

Here's an interesting question regarding Tyson's nature vs. Gus's influence: Does Don King steal Tyson away if Gus doesn't die?

D'Amato several times paid off people to get Tyson off the hook as a boy , by nature Tyson is an *******, and a very manipulative one.

[Ivich]

His fans are fully convinced that Mike is a highly intelligent, "misunderstood" sage. Genius is actually a term often given to him when they watch those short Tik Tok style clips of his caveman rants which have some quotes sprinkled in from actual intelligent people.

I guess IQ wouldn't count in their eyes since they themselves probably operate on the same level as him. The bar for 'genius' is set lower than ever in this generation.

"If there is such a thing as a genius,then I'm a genius,"John Lennon.

[Willie Pep 229]

"If there is such a thing as a genius,then I'm a genius,"John Lennon.

Funny but I always thought McCarthy to be one, the other three just talented.

[beautyistruth]

Not even remotely. Tyson was a PHENOMENON. The most exciting, explosive and electrifying fighter there ever was. He completely rampaged and obliterated the heavyweight division for a few years It was no smoke and mirrors show, Tyson was a true terror, a highly sophisticated, efficient, lethal wrecking machine. The problem was he was too great too early. He was just a kid 20 years old and he was not equipped or mature enough to handle all the fame and fortune and women and distractions that presented themselves. 85-89 Tyson was simply Jordan, Djokovic, Woods, Brady, Gretzky, Serena all rolled into one. But it was not meant to last long, earthquakes, tidal waves, hurricanes, lighting bolts are fleeting. Tyson was a f****** miracle. Atlas is a bitter old sad sack who gets some weird kicks out of slandering one of the greatest champions in sports history.