"A CONVERSATION WITH TEDDY ATLAS" By Aladdin Freeman

UPDATE: TEDDY ATLAS TO RECEIVE SAM TAUB AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN BROADCAST JOURNALISM

ESPN/2's Friday Night Fights expert analyst Teddy Atlas will receive the Sam Taub Award for "broadcast excellence" from the Boxing Writers Association of America at its annual awards dinner in Manhattan this spring.

Atlas, who is teamed with blow-by-blow man Bob Papa, also handles ringside commentary for ESPN's new monthly "Boxing Specials" series, and worked NBC Sports' coverage of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games from Sydney.

"Working with Teddy is like having a chip of paint fall from the past on every broadcast," says Papa. "He's such a boxing historian and brings his knowledge of the game and its history to the telecasts. He grew up in the game, and worked under the legendary Cus D'Amato, so he has a unique perspective."

Teddy Atlas is one of the most respected people in boxing today; his 'call'em as he sees them' attitude is a fan favorite. You can see Teddy every Friday night spouting out pugilistic knowledge on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights.” I had the pleasure of interviewing him about his views on the world of boxing today.

BRC: When and how did you become a trainer?

ATLAS: I have been training fighters for twenty five years, but I was a boxer before that, really since the early seventies. I started boxing as an amateur and then I got an opportunity to go up with Cus D'Amato in 1975. I boxed up there as an amateur I won the Golden Gloves upstate in the Adirondacks. The plan was for me to turn pro but I had an injury; Cus and Jimmy Jacobs were going to manage me but I couldn't go forward with that so Cus talked me into training. Cus was semi-retired, and he thought I had a talent to teach, he talked me into becoming a trainer at an age where I really didn't want to because I still wanted to fight myself. I was still young, not even 20 years old. The best part about it was that I got an opportunity not because I deserved it, but because of being with people like Cus and Jim, that I got the chance to train fighters like Wilfred Benitez and Mike Tyson.

BRC: What weight were you going to turn pro at?

TA: When I was fighting and winning all the amateur tournaments I was fighting at Lightweight and later on Jr. Welterweight. I probably would have turned pro at Jr. Welterweight.

BRC: Was it ever frustrating for you being so young and so good, and now having to coach a guy that couldn't do the things that you could do in the ring?

TA: It was frustrating from the fact I wanted to do it from the fighter's stand point rather than the trainer's end of it. I was so young that I couldn't come to grips with it, the fact that I couldn't do it myself anymore. It was tough to go through that transition. Being young actually helped me work with a lot of the fighters; because of my age we could relate better. Once I started training fighters up in Catskills it went from a place where no one was there to where I actually got a real gym going.

BRC: Always seeing you yelling about some of the decisions on TV and talking to you about it once in a while, what is something you could do to “fix” or help boxing out?

TA: To start off, I'd get a National Commission and have uniform rules across the nation in accordance with that Commission. Part of the things that would be in place with the Commission would be to rate the judges, get to the point to where the judges are accountable; where the rating system picks out the best judges, and rules out the bad ones, so that they are not allowed participate in the championship bouts. Also, the rating system, I'd get rid of sanctioning organizations. They're corrupt, they're corrupt; just get rid of them. The Federal government already proved that with the IBF, even though we already knew that; just get rid of them.

Getting rid of the sanctioning organizations would help in two ways. First, with the ratings for the fighters, I would get the strong Commissions around the country that get to see the fighters and also use some of the better boxing writers to start a new rating system. Also, another thing that it would help satisfy is the money that goes to these corrupt sanctioning bodies for the fees; instead you could take the money and use it to subsidize when there is medical testing needed. Also, with the money you could start a pension fund. The Most important thing is that there would be somebody in charge finally; there would be a policing of all the rules and policies. All the rules would be enforced; I'd make sure that there was blanket medical testing all over the country.

BRC: That's why we love you, honest straight answers. Changing the subject, what are your thoughts on the heavyweight division?

TA: The heavyweight division reminds me a little bit of the way it was in the early 1980's, when the guys were playing musical chairs with the belt (Both of us start laughing). You had guys like Greg Page, Tim Witherspoon, Pinklon Thomas and Tony Tubbs, all those guys took turns with the belt. It shows me that the talent right now is very comparable and that there is a lot of parody. I think that there's good and bad in that. The good is that now there is new life in the division. With the parody, it injects new interest in the division, change is always good in boxing. It shows the people now that anything can happen, a 20 to 1 underdog can win the title. For the people that got cynical and didn't want to watch fights because the decisions were pre-ordained, they are reminded that a knockout can happen at anytime. It's also good to see new blood in there with guys like Klitschko (Wladimir), and Kirk Johnson, all these guys are now going to vie for the title, so it's good from that aspect. The tough thing is that there's no marquee name out there other than Tyson. That's though because in the heavyweight division people are always looking for that one real big name out there like Larry Holmes, Ali, and Foreman. Tyson is right around the block, however, to becoming champion again. He's not what he used to be, but he still does brings the big name to the fight.

BRC: Let's talk about your guy Michael Grant because I know you're going to start working with him...

TA: Michael Grant is a kid that is still raw in many ways. He's going to have to develop more. You have to give him and the people that had him credit, to get him to the point that they got him, without much of an amateur background. He got beaten so badly in the Lennox Lewis fight, that part of what we really have to do is psychological so that he can move forward. That's what I'm going to do, develop him in the areas that I feel he'd do well in with his size and his left hand. He's a guy that once he gets past the psychological aspect of that loss, I would hope that he could fit right in with the other guys in the division.

BRC: Since we're on the heels of part two of the Middleweight tournament and you love the division, what are your thoughts?

TA: Hey, the middleweight tournament is real healthy for the sport. Anytime you're unifying all the titles, it's a good thing. (Laughing) World Champion is supposed to mean World Champion. It's not supposed to mean one of three, people forget to put that asterisk down. It's good to get one champion like in the old days. I really think it brings credibility to the sport and the division. This also brings fans back to a greater extent; now they know that there will be only one champion there when the dust clears. The Middleweight division has always been a well-respected division because it was a division where you had great fighters like Sugar Ray Robinson, LaMotta, and Hagler. It was a deep…

BRC: How could you forget my man Carlos Monzon?

TA: Yeah, Monzon as well, he stayed undefeated for close to 70 fights. This division you have guys who can hit with power like the heavyweights do, but they also have boxing skills to go with that, like defense, speed, head movement and the ability to throw combos; you got the best of both worlds. It's real good that this division is having a unification series, and what's even better is that it's being done in what was considered the Mecca of boxing, the Garden in New York and that in itself brings attention to the sport as well.

BRC: I know you love to study the fighters; how would you game plan against Felix Trinidad, to have a chance to beat him or make him feel like he's not invincible in the ring?

TA: He's a terrific offensive fighter, very explosive power in both hands, technically real solid, and he's not a bad defensive guy either. His biggest problem that I've seen is adjusting to movement; he's the kind of guy that needs his feet set to be really effective with those shots. De la Hoya showed us that Trinidad does have problems with some movement. Giving Trinidad angles is another way to go, not to stand right in front of him and letting him dictate to you what he's going to do. William Joppy does possess the ability to give him angles if he can be consistent with it.

BRC: Does someone like Shane Mosley have all the tools to beat him?

TA: I don't think he's big enough to beat him. Trinidad came up from welterweight, Mosley is coming up from lightweight. How far can a guy go up before it hurts him? The size is something that concerns me. Mosley’s speed, ability to box; which I think won him the fight with de la Hoya and, now the power that he seems to have added, would help him. Those attributes are the right blueprints on paper to beat a guy like Trinidad.

BRC: I think some of what you're saying is starting to happen in boxing. The Jr. Welterweight division should be unified soon with Judah and Tszyu. Mosley plans on unifying the welterweight division. Casamayor, Freitas and Mayweather will get together someday soon, we hope, as well so maybe it will be like the old days.

TA: That would be nice if it happens, the more unified fighters there are, brings more legitimacy to the sport as a whole.

BRC: Because we have a vast amount of readers from different generations, let me ask you, who are some of the fighters that you enjoy or enjoyed watching?

TA: As far as heart and what he gave to the TV audiences back in the 80's was Bobby Chacon. He was in some incredible fights. He displayed a great amount of courage and will in fights with Boza Edwards and Rafael “Bazooka” Limon. As far as overall skill and success intertwined into one, there was nobody like Roberto Duran for me. When he was a lightweight and even when he won the welterweight title he was terrific because he was a real combination of ability, technique and aggression. He was exciting, and powerful and that's why people want to watch the sport. He put together all of the skills; many people thought he was just strong and tenacious but he was more than that. He had great reflexes and as he'd press you, he'd make you miss; not many guys can do that.

BRC: Teddy, thanks a lot for your time. I can speak for our readers in saying we all really enjoy learning from you on “Friday Night Fights” when you go one on one with the fighters. You guys really pick the opponent apart and break it down to the sweet science that boxing really is. I wish there was a way to see more of it.

TA: Thanks a lot, at least we get to do it sometimes. I'm glad that people are learning something about boxing because it's a great way to teach people what's going on and I wouldn't mind doing it more.

Questions? Comments? Write Aladdin Freeman