Catskills

[Bleak]

Anybody seen the documentary from about 1983, just watched it
Really good watch, good insight in how Teddy Alas operated ,in the
Early days, pretty much adopting that little lad, really enjoyable,
I always thought at atlas one one tough ..... But showed a nice side on this

[Stuarty]

Anybody seen the documentary from about 1983, just watched it
Really good watch, good insight in how Teddy Alas operated ,in the
Early days, pretty much adopting that little lad, really enjoyable,
I always thought at atlas one one tough ..... But showed a nice side on this

Did he not pistol whip a young Tyson?

[Bleak]

Think he threatened him later on..... after this atlas didn't last long at Catskills although he took a couple more fighters from the gym to win the gloves he was finished coaching Tyson and Cus got rid of atlas

[reggaereggae]

I think Atlas is fake and full of sh1t... When he shapes up he looks awful at boxing. I bet he actually scarred himself in the face to look tougher.... I have never seen such a long straight mars bar on the face

[stevedoc]

I think Atlas is fake and full of sh1t... When he shapes up he looks awful at boxing. I bet he actually scarred himself in the face to look tougher.... I have never seen such a long straight mars bar on the face

I hate teddy atlas he's made a career out of slagging Tyson off complete prick I think

[jamesmcdonnell]

I think Atlas is fake and full of sh1t... When he shapes up he looks awful at boxing. I bet he actually scarred himself in the face to look tougher.... I have never seen such a long straight mars bar on the face

I don't think he's fake - I do find him a blowhard, and he is pretty boring at times, but he isn't fake. He was sentenced to time on Rijkers Island for armed robbery, and the scar was sustained in a street fight in which his face was slashed.

The spat with Tyson is well documented, Atlas found out that Tyson, who was at the time out of control in regards to his dealings with young women - had grabbed his 15 nieces arse, and he came back with a revolver and put it to Tyson's head. This event is well documented, and confirmed by several sources as the reason that Cus (who didn't give a shit what mike did so long as he still had a future heavyweight champ on his hands) threw Atlas out of his home.

Atlas may be a bit of an irritant- but the events cited appear to have been confirmed by many sources previously.

If you want some interesting background, I'd recommend Mike Tyson, Money Myth and Betrayal - still the best book I've read on Tyson to date.

The myth of Cus D'Amato as the holy saviour of Tyson get's rather pulled apart in this book - he might have been the lesser of many evils out there, but he was definitely a man with his own agenda, who was prepared to scupper Mike's development as a human being, in order to get to the heavyweight championship of the world.

[palooka]

You should read his book, it is hilarious - he does straight through pubs full of redneck racists and reckons he could batter Donny LaLonde and Michael Moore! The man is insane.

[palooka]

Armked robbers in the USA get lots of time, how long did Atlas get?

[reggaereggae]

I think Atlas is fake and full of sh1t... When he shapes up he looks awful at boxing. I bet he actually scarred himself in the face to look tougher.... I have never seen such a long straight mars bar on the face

I don't think he's fake - I do find him a blowhard, and he is pretty boring at times, but he isn't fake. He was sentenced to time on Rijkers Island for armed robbery, and the scar was sustained in a street fight in which his face was slashed.

The spat with Tyson is well documented, Atlas found out that Tyson, who was at the time out of control in regards to his dealings with young women - had grabbed his 15 nieces arse, and he came back with a revolver and put it to Tyson's head. This event is well documented, and confirmed by several sources as the reason that Cus (who didn't give a poo what mike did so long as he still had a future heavyweight champ on his hands) threw Atlas out of his home.

Atlas may be a bit of an irritant- but the events cited appear to have been confirmed by many sources previously.

If you want some interesting background, I'd recommend Mike Tyson, Money Myth and Betrayal - still the best book I've read on Tyson to date.

The myth of Cus D'Amato as the holy saviour of Tyson get's rather pulled apart in this book - he might have been the lesser of many evils out there, but he was definitely a man with his own agenda, who was prepared to scupper Mike's development as a human being, in order to get to the heavyweight championship of the world.

I'm sorry I dont buy it. All these stories come from him and him only. Tyson has a different take in his autobio. Th donna lalonde thing turning up to shoot him is a pathetic lies. I believe he's a fake, intuitively and his lack of support for any of his stories. Rooney himself believed Atlas was a liar about said scar incident. I've seen Atlas shape up and he's awful.... Let alone a boxing prospect. I've encountered a few fake tough guys in my life and he fits the bill

[palooka]

I can believe that he held a gun to someone's head and I think, after reading his book, that he struggled as a youth being the son of a wealthy doctor. He found the wise guys and streets more alluring than study and adapted some Brooklyn tough guy mannerisms. No way was he a promising boxer or street thug though. What was his amateur record? How long was he in prison for? No way can a boxing trainer talk a judge out of jailing an adult armed robbery - it doesn't happen in the real world.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I think Atlas is fake and full of sh1t... When he shapes up he looks awful at boxing. I bet he actually scarred himself in the face to look tougher.... I have never seen such a long straight mars bar on the face

I don't think he's fake - I do find him a blowhard, and he is pretty boring at times, but he isn't fake. He was sentenced to time on Rijkers Island for armed robbery, and the scar was sustained in a street fight in which his face was slashed.

The spat with Tyson is well documented, Atlas found out that Tyson, who was at the time out of control in regards to his dealings with young women - had grabbed his 15 nieces arse, and he came back with a revolver and put it to Tyson's head. This event is well documented, and confirmed by several sources as the reason that Cus (who didn't give a poo what mike did so long as he still had a future heavyweight champ on his hands) threw Atlas out of his home.

Atlas may be a bit of an irritant- but the events cited appear to have been confirmed by many sources previously.

If you want some interesting background, I'd recommend Mike Tyson, Money Myth and Betrayal - still the best book I've read on Tyson to date.

The myth of Cus D'Amato as the holy saviour of Tyson get's rather pulled apart in this book - he might have been the lesser of many evils out there, but he was definitely a man with his own agenda, who was prepared to scupper Mike's development as a human being, in order to get to the heavyweight championship of the world.

I'm sorry I dont buy it. All these stories come from him and him only. Tyson has a different take in his autobio. Th donna lalonde thing turning up to shoot him is a pathetic lies. I believe he's a fake, intuitively and his lack of support for any of his stories. Rooney himself believed Atlas was a liar about said scar incident. I've seen Atlas shape up and he's awful.... Let alone a boxing prospect. I've encountered a few fake tough guys in my life and he fits the bill

Fair enough. Tyson is likely to have a different take - his autobiography is hardly candid - Tyson is a guy who has never taken much responsibility for his actions, I'm hardly surprised he refutes what Atlas said.

You really think that Atlas would go out and scar his own face to look like a hard nut? Does that really sound feasible to you? Think about it>?

I'm sure he may have exaggerated how good a fighter he was as an amateur - he wouldn't be the first - Kevin Rooney is another guy who has well overblown his place in boxing history, claiming that without him Tyson would have been nothing, though of course going on to achieve very little.

I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Most of the fighters who worked with Atlas said he was a nutjob, constantly getting into fights with other trainers, managers, etc. So there seems to be some truth to him having a pretty unpredictable character.

Atlas would hardly be the first man to be guilty of hyperbole when it comes to themselves, however, I think it's fairly well established he is a loose cannon, and I find it very hard to believe he went out to get himself scarred just to back up some imagined hard man persona.

I've never seen his prison record questioned, and I've not as yet seen anyone say the incident with Tyson and the gun was a lie.

[palooka]

I've just seen he spent time in Rykers Island for armed robbery, its on Wikipedia so it must be true? How long was he sentenced to? Did he spend all his time in Rulers? What about the others in on the robbery, how long did get get?

It's bollocks.

[reggaereggae]

I don't think he's fake - I do find him a blowhard, and he is pretty boring at times, but he isn't fake. He was sentenced to time on Rijkers Island for armed robbery, and the scar was sustained in a street fight in which his face was slashed.

The spat with Tyson is well documented, Atlas found out that Tyson, who was at the time out of control in regards to his dealings with young women - had grabbed his 15 nieces arse, and he came back with a revolver and put it to Tyson's head. This event is well documented, and confirmed by several sources as the reason that Cus (who didn't give a poo what mike did so long as he still had a future heavyweight champ on his hands) threw Atlas out of his home.

Atlas may be a bit of an irritant- but the events cited appear to have been confirmed by many sources previously.

If you want some interesting background, I'd recommend Mike Tyson, Money Myth and Betrayal - still the best book I've read on Tyson to date.

The myth of Cus D'Amato as the holy saviour of Tyson get's rather pulled apart in this book - he might have been the lesser of many evils out there, but he was definitely a man with his own agenda, who was prepared to scupper Mike's development as a human being, in order to get to the heavyweight championship of the world.

I'm sorry I dont buy it. All these stories come from him and him only. Tyson has a different take in his autobio. Th donna lalonde thing turning up to shoot him is a pathetic lies. I believe he's a fake, intuitively and his lack of support for any of his stories. Rooney himself believed Atlas was a liar about said scar incident. I've seen Atlas shape up and he's awful.... Let alone a boxing prospect. I've encountered a few fake tough guys in my life and he fits the bill

Fair enough. Tyson is likely to have a different take - his autobiography is hardly candid - Tyson is a guy who has never taken much responsibility for his actions, I'm hardly surprised he refutes what Atlas said.

You really think that Atlas would go out and scar his own face to look like a hard nut? Does that really sound feasible to you? Think about it>?

I'm sure he may have exaggerated how good a fighter he was as an amateur - he wouldn't be the first - Kevin Rooney is another guy who has well overblown his place in boxing history, claiming that without him Tyson would have been nothing, though of course going on to achieve very little.

I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Most of the fighters who worked with Atlas said he was a nutjob, constantly getting into fights with other trainers, managers, etc. So there seems to be some truth to him having a pretty unpredictable character.

Atlas would hardly be the first man to be guilty of hyperbole when it comes to themselves, however, I think it's fairly well established he is a loose cannon, and I find it very hard to believe he went out to get himself scarred just to back up some imagined hard man persona.

I've never seen his prison record questioned, and I've not as yet seen anyone say the incident with Tyson and the gun was a lie.

Good post. But I don't find it out of the question he scarred his own face. As you or someone else stated, he came from a decent background and it's almost like he wanted the tough man character, he's striving for it. To get a scar like that on your face involves you getting held down and striped, not just slashed while standing. It doesn't ring true, that is a long scar and a quick slash does not lead to that. And the fact it was perfectly straight down his face, not across, on the least vulnerable part of the face.....? No eyes, no mouth, no nose...no witnesses. And his story is how he's a a huge hero fighting five guys and knocking half of them out (That idiot can't knock out a cumshot.) sorry I call huge bullsh1t.

And the fact he may act unstable in other situations just makes me think he's trying to push that hard man image. Just cos a guy acts a bit nuts (oh and by the way, none of these 'incidents' led to anything) does t mean he's a genuine tough guy.

He's a blowhard. A liar. And a fake. His stories are always too dramatic

[stevedoc]

Since when did pulling a gun on someone make you a tough guy ,it makes you a pussy in my eyes

[palooka]

Kevin Rooney at least had a documented ans verifyable boxing career, there's a lot of smoke and mirrors with Atlas.

[stevedoc]

Kevin Rooney at least had a documented ans verifyable boxing career, there's a lot of smoke and mirrors with Atlas.

He's also the worst commentator in the history of boxing he doesn't mention what's happening in the fight ,if someone is floored and he's already talking he doesn't even mention that the boxer is down he just carries on babbling on about what ever crap he's saying

[palooka]

I just thought that he was jealous of the limelight the fighter got. The grandstanding in the Moorer v Holyfield first bout was awful.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Funny, years ago I had a mate (well, an acquaintance let's say), who was the son of a university lecturer and a librarian, he was from a comfortable middle class background, and grew up around Ladbroke grove, which back in the 80's was still quite a tasty manor - and certainly had it's share of villain.

The long and short of it, was he longed to be a gangster - and he ended up becoming one, well, in his own mind anyway, he starting knocking out crack, and associating with a lot of very dodgy people, some of whom were genuine hard nuts. In the end, he kind of got what he was looking for, because he got caught on camera during operation bumblebee supplying crack to prostitutes, and was done up like a kipper. His parents had their door smashed in on Christmas day. He was however a complete and utter coward, and he convinced his poor younger brother, to take the heat for him, and paid him for his time. In the end though his brother disowned him, he got nicked again at a later date, and went to jail.

Last I heard, he was driving a bus. Not quite as gangster as he'd hoped I'd guess.

I guess the point I'm making is that it's possible Atlas is nowhere near as much of anything as he claims. He is certainly unstable, and quite annoying at times, and nowhere near the trainer he would like to believe. Some people would rather be a part of a world they really have no business being in, but it doesn't stop them getting involved.

[stevedoc]

There was an old Irish guy that used to drink with my dad called dick nice bloke actually but everyone would tell me what a great boxer he was and that he was once a trainer and we used to talk boxing all the time and after about 5 years he told me he's never been in a ring in his life and that he always wanted to but never had the balls to ......that's atlas to me

[reggaereggae]

So...... Let's look at the evidence.... So apparently Atlas was in Rikers for armed robbery, a serious charge... But there's no proof of that...no criminal record .... No witnesses....also. Apparently Atlas got in a crazy street fight, with 5 guys, knocked two out and one cut him with the longest, straightest scar ever seen.... Oh and no witnesses..... And after the Mars bar, and with two guys being knocked clean out and having to scrape them off the floor, the 'assailants' left Teddy without stomping on him and destroying the 'lawyer's son, desperately trying to forge a tough guy reputation' with his apparently cowardly friend running away.


This is a ridiculous fairy tale.......Atlas is a grotesque fake

[palooka]

James, you ought to give the Atlas biography a read, some stuff has to be true but he does think he is the hardest man in history and he does imagine he is on the moral high ground even when he's considered murdering someone, he even thinks the man was lucky to get away with his life (for some perceived slight). He goes to a bar with Shannon Briggs (I think) and beats the hell out of everyone in sight before Briggs could do anything and afterwards Briggs is overawed at how ace a street fighter Atlas is. I laughed so much at parts that I cried, put Ronnie Pickering and Teddy Atlas in the same place and I guarantee a worldwide destruction.

[palooka]

There was an old Irish guy that used to drink with my dad called dick nice bloke actually but everyone would tell me what a great boxer he was and that he was once a trainer and we used to talk boxing all the time and after about 5 years he told me he's never been in a ring in his life and that he always wanted to but never had the balls to ......that's atlas to me

Least he had the balls to tell the truth, some people he so deluded by the lies they tell themselves over and over that they find it difficult to separate imaginary events from real ones. It !just have hurt him a bit inside when people were impressed by his imaginary past.

[reggaereggae]

Funny, years ago I had a mate (well, an acquaintance let's say), who was the son of a university lecturer and a librarian, he was from a comfortable middle class background, and grew up around Ladbroke grove, which back in the 80's was still quite a tasty manor - and certainly had it's share of villain.

The long and short of it, was he longed to be a gangster - and he ended up becoming one, well, in his own mind anyway, he starting knocking out crack, and associating with a lot of very dodgy people, some of whom were genuine hard nuts. In the end, he kind of got what he was looking for, because he got caught on camera during operation bumblebee supplying crack to prostitutes, and was done up like a kipper. His parents had their door smashed in on Christmas day. He was however a complete and utter coward, and he convinced his poor younger brother, to take the heat for him, and paid him for his time. In the end though his brother disowned him, he got nicked again at a later date, and went to jail.

Last I heard, he was driving a bus. Not quite as gangster as he'd hoped I'd guess.

I guess the point I'm making is that it's possible Atlas is nowhere near as much of anything as he claims. He is certainly unstable, and quite annoying at times, and nowhere near the trainer he would like to believe. Some people would rather be a part of a world they really have no business being in, but it doesn't stop them getting involved.

I know. There are middle class guys who go nuts and get involved. There's a guy I heard from Dulwich college whose mother owns a long term shop in kings road. But he was seduced by the villainous life and shot some guy coming out of prison. Now doing life. It happens. But all I'm saying is that not only does Atlas story not ring true, but there is zero, I mean ZERO record of his claims..... He s a fake, a liar, and a guy who was born into a privileged family who wished he was tough and plays this role. Along with his fake scar

[stevedoc]

There was an old Irish guy that used to drink with my dad called dick nice bloke actually but everyone would tell me what a great boxer he was and that he was once a trainer and we used to talk boxing all the time and after about 5 years he told me he's never been in a ring in his life and that he always wanted to but never had the balls to ......that's atlas to me

Least he had the balls to tell the truth, some people he so deluded by the lies they tell themselves over and over that they find it difficult to separate imaginary events from real ones. It !just have hurt him a bit inside when people were impressed by his imaginary past.

He actually was a really nice guy I just think a few white lies got escalated.

[palooka]

I've seen it myself, Steve. Pub tales get exaggerated over time and a group of people become complicit in maintaining the new tale as it puts everyone involved in a better light. No one wants to pull either themselves or their mates down and after a while everyone prefers the lie to the truth.