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 It had been more than four years since Atlas last worked as a
trainer, acting as cornerman for Alexander Povetkin when the Russian
won the vacant WBA heavyweight championship title in 2011 before
their relationship soured and they parted ways.
For Atlas to be tempted away from a successful career as a boxing
commentator, he first had to be convinced by his attorney daughter,
Nicole, and then had to ensure he would be working with a boxer he
could respect both in and outside the ring.
"I have a good job in broadcasting and the big difference is that
nobody can talk back to me and I don't have to worry about who
wins," Atlas, 59, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"And that's always a big worry for a trainer, so I said to my kids,
I'm not coming back to train and be around somebody that I don't
enjoy being around ... who I don't think is a decent person.
"And I found Timothy to be as decent a person as I could find. I
spent time in his house, saw him as a family guy. I also saw him in
the gym as very coachable."
Atlas, who has worked as a boxing commentator for NBC's coverage of
the last four editions of the Olympic Games, started out as an
amateur boxer under the guidance of Hall of Fame trainer Cus D'Amato
in the Catskills of New York state.
SWITCH TO TRAINING
A back injury forced him to quit competitive boxing and he
immediately switched to training, once again under the tutelage of
D'Amato, where his responsibilities included working with a teenaged
Mike Tyson.
"As Cus used to say, the most important element of someone being
coachable was them being interested," Atlas recalled. "He would say,
'When you can show them how to get hit less, that makes them very
interested.'
"And I found Timothy to be both very interested and very
intelligent. He looks at things, he examines things. So with all of
that put together ..."
Despite the instant appeal of Bradley after Atlas had spent three
days working with the American boxer at his home near Palm Springs
in California, he did not immediately commit to a business
relationship.
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"I told him I would go home to New York and let him know soon," said
Atlas. "And I thought about those moments when I was in the gym with
him ... there's a purity of being in that gym when someone needs
you.
"I've been in this business for 40 years and I started training
fighters very young with Cus D'Amato and working with Timothy
reminded of what motivated me back then.
"It's still that simple," said Atlas, whose daughter advised him to
go back to training if he still had the burning desire to teach.
"It's being able to help somebody and, at the same time, serve
yourself while you are doing that."
In Bradley, Atlas has a 32-year-old boxer with a 32-1-1 record who
has received great punishment in recent years -- especially at the
hands of Manny Pacquiao (winning once and losing once), Ruslan
Provodnikov and Diego Chaves.
"Timothy's got good speed but he's got to use it in a different
way," Atlas said of the challenge facing his fighter on Nov. 7 when
he defends his WBO welterweight title at the Thomas & Mack Center in
Las Vegas.
"Instead of using it in such aggressive fashion, he's got to use it
in a different fashion. You control yourself and you look for the
right time. You know that you can handle your opponent but you don't
have to let yourself do it on his terms.
"Timothy's already shown that his heart is as big as the Grand
Canyon but now he needs to show me a different kind of toughness."
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
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