Teddy Atlas
A boxing sage from New York's hard streets who became the sport's most brutally honest and principled voice, both in the corner and on the air.
Born 1956 (age 70)·American boxing trainer, sports commentator·Birthday: July 29·Baby Boomers
Biography
Teddy Atlas's life is a New York boxing story etched in scar tissue and uncompromising ethics. Trained by the legendary Cus D'Amato, his own fighting career was cut short, but he found his true calling as a trainer and confessor to champions. He guided a young Mike Tyson and later led Michael Moorer to a shocking heavyweight title victory over Evander Holyfield. Atlas's genius lies in his psychological acuity, his ability to strip a fighter down and rebuild them with tactical wisdom and raw truth. This same unvarnished honesty defines his decades-long career as a television analyst, where his passionate commentary educates and excites. Beyond the ring, he runs the Teddy Atlas Foundation, helping children and families in need, a testament to the code of loyalty and responsibility he preaches.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Teddy was born in 1956, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Teddy Was Born
The biggest hits of 1956
#1 Movie
The Ten Commandments
Best Picture
Around the World in 80 Days
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Teddy's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1956Born
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1961Started school
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1969Became a teenager
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Could drive
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1974Could vote
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Turned 21
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1986Turned 30
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 40
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 50
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 60
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 70
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Trained Michael Moorer to the heavyweight championship, defeating Evander Holyfield in 1994.
- Served as a head trainer for over 20 world champions across multiple weight classes.
- Became a lead boxing analyst for ESPN for more than two decades, winning an Emmy Award.
- Founded the Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation, a charitable organization named for his father.
Did You Know?
He once pulled a gun on a young Mike Tyson to stop him from harassing a relative.
Atlas worked as a physical therapist and trained under Cus D'Amato while still a teenager.
He authored a bestselling autobiography, 'Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man'.
His father, Dr. Theodore Atlas, was a respected physician who inspired his philanthropic work.
“You have to have the discipline to do what you don't want to do, to get what you want to get.”
