I'm no boxing fan. When the big matches come along I'll get a little intrigued. Still, no great shakes for me. However, Teddy Atlas's book was recommended to me by a friend who is REALLY into boxing. The beauty of it the book was that one need not know much about the sport because Atlas is really writing a life-lessons kind of book. Sure seems like he has been through a lot, so the story is interesting. A roughneck as a youngster, he had a MD doctor dad who was so busy helping others that he never paid enough attention to Teddy. Even so, Teddy loved his dad and after making some early mistakes, he cleaned up his act and found a new life in boxing as a trainer. When I was a teenager, Mike Tyson was all the rage (packaged in a lot of rage too). Teddy helped train Tyson early in Tyson's career, so it was interesting to read about some of the back stories there. Not so much a spoiler alert, by Tyson wasn't really a decent guy. Also, reading about Michael Moorer, George Foreman, and a few other names I have heard of was interesting. Teddy seems like a decent guy. Also very angry. Probably not wise to end up on his bad side. He needs to give people a little more slack. At the very least, he can lay off a little of the "I'm better than everyone else I have come in contact with." It's hard to buy how serious he takes personal morals when he hung out with murderers like Sammy the Bull. But he's still a great guy with an interesting story to tell, and he does so in an extremely easy to read format. Not bad for a sport I don't really care about.
Teddy Atlas is legend. I have always like him as a commentator and surely was amused by his tactics during the Michael Moorer Vs. Evander Holyfield Championship bout. I could not put this book down, it is brutally honest and I learned all there is to know about Teddy. Everybody could take something away from this book, but i think fight fans would enjoy it the most. Teddy Atlas is a fighter, i'm convinced that if he didn't have back problems then he would be a champion. His abilities as a trainer reign supreme though and he really builds up a fighters mental strength which he claims is "80% of the fight."I really liked this book and blew through it in a couple of days. Yay boxing.
Do You like book Atlas (2006)?
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.
—JT
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. 45 %
—Kym Andrew Robinson
