Find Atlas: From The Streets To The Ring: A Sons Struggle To Become A Man Originated By Teddy Atlas Document

really enjoyed this book! As a boxing coach myself, from time to time find myself getting frustrated with some of my students.
Teddy showed me that its no different in the professional ranks but if you see something in someone sometimes you just have to trust your gut! Great read.
I find that Atlas is a guy that those who have never fought seem to gobble up his every word, I do not dislike Teddy but I find that he seems to celebrate himself a lot more than those who have employed him seem to.


I think this book is a worthwhile read and will help you to understand and appreciate the man some, but the book seems to avoid some fights and moments that one would prefer to read about while it goes into detail about incidents that are less than interesting to a fight fan.
For example the training of Willem Defoe, sure this is a fun trivia point but I felt a bit too much was spent on this event.


In any case I do suggest fight and Teddy fans to read this book, I am glad I read it but I was not overly impressed with it and did not complete it with a feeling I gained any extra knowledge or insight from this book.


There is a recurring theme in books or memoirs of exfighters or exathletes, or trainers, etc, Importance of training one's mind, If there is fear, endurance, concentration involved in your activities mind is the weapon, Body is important as well, but body training follows mind training and not the other way around, It is particularly easy to sit on a sofa with a book in your hands, read about all the mental toughness and regime that is described in these books.
It is not easy to do that mentalphysical training though, Easy to read and think, difficult to go and do, But going and doing is far more important as well,
This is the aftermath after Teddy Atlas' book, I did not quite like it fully, Especially that "always right, honest and knowing what's best" attitude, Well, he is right about all the situations most of the time, but that righteousness gives a slightly bitter taste on what would otherwise be an excellent book excellent memoir of a great trainer who was at least partly responsible for Mike Tyson's career and who raised a bunch of other great kids, possibly great human beings and great boxers as well.


Amazing story. Flaws, victories, and an authentic writing style, One of the my favorite boxing,

Check that, one of my favorite books I've ever read, . . period. One of the best biographies I have read in a long time! Exceptional, I'm a boxing fan, having followed the sport pretty closely from roughlywhen I started subscribing to HBO towhen I cut the cord and found HBO's boxing coverage much reduced on its streaming service.
In other words, I'm probably a better fit for this book than most, but I think it might appeal to everyone,

Atlas' life so far might not have changed the world, but it sure has been interesting, The book contains many, many compelling moments both relating to boxing and not, What he has to say about facing fear probably makes the book worth reading even for the nonfan,

I listened to the audio version, released inI was surprised to see the book came out innot sure why the massive time lag and read by the author.
Atlas is a terrible narrator, I was accustomed to his

style from his work on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, but I think someone who's not familiar with him might struggle at first.
Here's the thing though Atlas isn't really narrating his book, he's reliving it, And from that perspective, he's superb, He laughs during the funny parts and gets choked up during the tough parts, and he was making me do the same.
I can't imagine the print experience would be nearly as good, Teddys crazy and exciting life makes for a very entertaining read! I've always liked Teddy Atlas' downtoEarth nature and unparalleled boxing insight.
He's one of the few genuine articlesa guy who knows what he's talking about, but doesn't purport to be smarter than he actually is.
His frequent slips of the tongue "You don't have to be Notre Damus to predict, . . " " and that left hook was the koop da' grace, . . " are more endearing than they are distracting, and they only serve to remind the viewer that this is a man who grew up with considerably more street smarts than book smarts.


And it's the story of that hard knocks education that makes this book so fascinating, Most have heard of Atlas' legendary and doomed collaboration with the young Mike Tysonwhom Atlas had helped groom into the dominating force he initially became.
But even before his boxing career began, Teddy Atlas lived through some extraordinary experiences,

His book is at once surprising, touching, and inspiring, A good story, and one not limited to boxing fans, Another ridiculously good boxing book, Teddy Atlas wasnt a professional boxer himself but he had a tough tough youth and was under the aegis of the one and only Cus DAmato who guided mike Tysons early career.
Teddy was one of Tysons first ever trainers but that all changed when Tyson “touched up” one of Teddys wifes younger sisters agedand in response teddy who was very young himself at the time put a gun to mikes head and threatened to kill him.
Teddys father was a respected doctor in the New York area and a huge influence in teddys own life, The opening line of the book is a one sentence eulogy in the memory of his father and the impact that his father had on his life.
once when teddy had got into a fight and had a bar crack half his head open he rushed to his fathers AampE clinic but his father who had told teddy not to get involved with the wrong crowd made him wait his turn and was seen to afterhours had passed and he had lost a considerable amount of blood.
He then stitched him up without using any local anaesthetic, Teddy would take the likes of Mike Tyson and other young boxers Mike wasgoing onwhen he first met him into the Bronx to fight on certain nights and on one occasion had Mike signed up to fight against another fighter.
As you may expect the fight ended in favour of young Mike but the punch that knocked out his opponent was hit so hard that people in the crowd heard a staccato ofclear and distinct sounds.
was the impact of the punch on the afro headed black opponent mike was facing, Second was the sound of his mouth guard flying out and hitting one of the walls of the relatively small hall where this amateur fight had taken place.
Thirdly and incredibly was THE SOUND OF THE SWEAT AS IT LEFT THE AFRO HEADED POOR YOUTHS HEAD AND SQUELCHED AGAINST ONE OF THE BACK WALL.
Yes you read that right the punch was thrown so hard that the sweat rung off of the unfortunate mans head and slammed against one of the side walls.
The fourth sound was the sound of his body hitting the ground, Unbelievable. . Tyson was only aboutat the time and his opponent was in his lates I believe, Teddy injured his back so took up training and after some relatively good professional boxers the book goes into his on off relationship with Michael Moorer.
Moorer went on to defeat Evander Holyfield and become of the world heavyweight champions, If you look at the YouTube clips of Teddy Atlas working with Moorer in the corner between rounds of that fight with Holyfield you have a very interesting example of motivational speaking.
Aggressive and to the point and not for everyone but its exactly what Moorer needed, He won the fight but eventually lost to ayear old George foreman to a punch that Teddy had been warning Moorer about for months leading up to the fight itself.
I could go on recounting about another/interesting episodes and incidences in this extraordinary mans life but will allow you to read the book itself.
Highly recommended if you are a sports fan or not, Hugely enjoyable read covering Teddy Atlas' life story and his stable of fighters, Beautifully written and full of behindthescene moments featuring Cus D'Amato, Mike Tyson, Michael Moorer and many other major boxing figures, Great life story. Personally I'm not a fan of biography's of any sort, To me though Teddy Atlas is the best boxing commentator in the business, You always hear great insight, obviously about the sweet science of boxing, but he also talks off the cuff about how it applies to life and how you should handle yourself inside and outside of the ring.
By reading his story, seeing how his life lead him to be the man he is today, I was glad I took the time to actually pick the book up and read it.
His life is truly interesting and it is written to keep you interested, From his rough and tumble childhood, to his start in boxing, to him being the trainer of the Heavyweight Champion of the World, this mans story is one I think every guy should read.


Today everyone makes excuses for why they can't handle this or that in life, It is the pansy generation if you ask me, too much a sense of self entitlement, This mans book is a small fight against that and I think should be required reading for every high school kid out there.
Hopefully they'd learn something that their parents obviously aren't teaching them anymore, The title of this book should be the Trials of Job, Teddy Atlas, the son of a cold and distant father and alcoholic mother, somehow survived to tell this tale, As a child he learned of his grandfathers suicide by hanging and his five yearold brother died during heart surgery, Whats next, a meteor striking the family home He quits school at seventeen and after a robbery winds up in Rikers Island, one of the toughest prisons in New York.
There are few living saints among us, and Ted meets one, a Franciscan brother who may have saved Atlass life, And then, a second miracle as Cus DAmato, Floyd Pattersons trainer, enters the picture, The Vince Lombardi of boxing changes Teds life forever, As he did for Mike Tyson years later, DAmato convinces a judge to keep Atlas out of prison and in the process becoming a surrogate father figure.
A slight detour occurs as Atlas returns to Staten Island and his old life of crime and street fights, After almost ending up back in prison, the kid finally wises up and gets back with Cus as a trainer in Catskill, NY.
He transforms from student to teacher, mentoring fighters only a few years younger than he is, Most of them are troubled kids with horrific backgrounds, and atlas, like DAmato is a natural leader, Tragedy seems to be Teds middle name as his beloved grandmother dies and we learn of his brothers mental illness, His world will change forever when he sees a twelve yearold Mike Tyson and DAmato says that the kid will someday be the world heavyweight champion.
Thepound boy punches like a man and I loved the stories of his early fights, Tysons behavior causes Atlas major problems and the trainer is forced to leave, He spends months helping a quadriplegic walk again, It is back to Staten Island to work as a trainer, away from DAmato, Later, he works with fighters at Gleasons Gym, While there, he is offered a job to train actor Willem Defoe to play a role as a boxer in a concentration camp during WWII.
They work well together and this chapter provides some great anecdotes, Atlas then meets Sammy “the Bull” Gravano at the gym and they have several long, philosophical discussions, A year later, headlines in the New York press read, “Sammy the Rat” as the gangster turns informer, The chapter has the feel of an episode of “The Sopranos”, Hey Tony, whats a matter for you Atlas next adventure takes place in Biloxi, Mississippi as he encounters some good ol boys uttering the “n” word at him and a couple of his black boxers, a big mistake on the part of the rednecks.
Because Atlas was once a problem child, karma sends him an aspiring heavy weight champ named Michael Moorer who has the demeanor of a spoiled child.
Somehow, Atlas is able to reach him, He uses a power of positive thinking approach on his protégé to prepare for a match with Evander Holyfield, the current world champ.
I wont give away the result, as it happened in, even I didnt remember, The funniest passage is when Atlas is describing his personal savior, Brother Tim McDonald sitting at a topless bar in Toronto watching the fight.
I laughed and cried at the same time, And now from the sublime to the ridiculous, with the grill man, George Foreman as Moorers next opponent, George wasand at leastpounds for his comeback fight an amazing chapter with a few of Atlas friends hanging out at a Las Vegas casino behaving badly.
The politics of the business puts loyalties to the test in a place notorious for being unscrupulous, Don King is not the only villain here, The relationship between Atlas and Moorer is almost Shakespearean in scope, The men who had absent fathers, one emotionally and the other physically and share a common thread, It transcends race and is an all too human element which binds us all, Atlas continues as a trainer but he eventually burns out and becomes a TV commentator, His sets up a charity in his fathers name and tells the story of an insult comedian at a benefit who steps on the wrong toes.
Think of Joe Pesci “do I amuse you/” and youll get the picture, I loved this book. I needed a good laugh after trudging through a dry and humorless biography of Joseph Smith, Atlas was the perfect remedy, .