YouSaid · the spoken record

Teddy Atlas

lines on the record
143
first
2023-12-24
most recent
2023-12-24
sittings or episodes
1
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podcast

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  1. “Yeah, and that's listen, that's fair. I know dimensions of human nature too well to not know that he still has to have certain, because I have those strong feelings, what? It's not fair for him to have him. Damn right, it's fair. Now, he could look at it if he was to be held to his word that night that he just acknowledges that what happened he deserved because of what he, you know, the position he put me in and he put himself in, what he did. And I wouldn't change nothing.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “Acknowledge they've been damaged to acknowledge that you know they've been damaged and you care about them being damaged and how do you show care through admiration you know in some ways almost through adolation and he's getting adolation from people like you know which is to an incredible level and it's because it's a phenomena but but I get it I understand it and um Know if he gets it, I don't know if underneath all of this, he's a complex guy. He's a sensitive guy. I don't know, and I am too.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “The media that went across the sky that is, if they didn't see it, their parents told them about it. There was a media that came across the sky one day. And the media is walking around in a room now. And that's the meteorite. And it actually landed here. And that's it right there. And now he's come a long way. And now he's more human and he's lovable and compassionate and he cries. And I get the fascination. I get the love affair. I get it because we're inherently, we're people that want to forgive. We're people that we want to be good. And part of being good is to forgive people and to show compassion to people. And so, and when somebody's been damaged.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “Yeah, he's emotional. I get emotional a little bit too. But he's emotional and he can be, and he can be, I can see why people have a fascination in a love affair with him right now because he was. Because, you know, he was.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “For what I needed to really that he really cared that what he did to me caused me to do what I did because I did something that was pretty damn bad to him too. Is he able to Deal with that and put that where it has to be put. Is he able to put that? Or is it just he did something he had to do and maybe he's sorry he did it? I know look I appreciated that he I would rather have been in a private place.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “I have come to terms with believing what you did. That's hurtful to me, and that it matters to you that it was that hurtful to me, and that you were wrong in doing it. Did you do it? I know that's deep. I know that I'm a freaking idiot. You're a teddy freaking, you should be better than that. He's better than you. Yeah, maybe he is better than me. Maybe he is. Really? Seriously. Maybe he is. And I took it. He put his hand. I took it. We hugged. He said, I love you. Yeah. But I want to believe But what did Cuss tell me? No matter what a man says, it's what he does in the end that he intended to do all along. So to this day today. Was it really genuine or was it reflexive of that moment for him to get what he needed for that step? Or was it truly...”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “I want to be the great gracious guy right now. Say, oh, I'm so human that a man's man enough to say, sorry, that's it. We're good. I want to be really, that's the best presentation of Teddy Atlas I could put out there. He's a good guy. He forgives. He's a good guy. He's a stand-up guy and he's a good guy. I'm not sure. He truly did it. Himself that he really did it Because he felt that. But if he's persuaded by other things, he was in the middle. I know I'm taking it too deep. I know it, but what am I going to do? He was in the middle of 12 steps with the, you know, getting out of drugs, alcohol, 12 steps, which is a commemorable thing. Really, it is. And he's taking the steps. Part of the steps was to admit to all people you offended in life. Are you doing it for the 12 steps or are you doing it because you really? Truly”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “And he freaking betrayed me. And then all of a sudden I connected the dots. I was like, He didn't betray me in that cold sense? Give up on life.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “And I finally connected the dots, this idiot that didn't graduate high school. I finally connected the dots. I was asking cuts to give up on life. You don't give up on life. You don't give up on aspirations of life. Life is all forms of life. It doesn't have to be a physical form of it. It's life. It's having a reason to be alive. It's having a reason to have tomorrow. And Cuss is only reason to have tomorrow was to have another heavyweight champ. And Teddy Atlas, even though we were together all those years and we were partners and we trained together and we were, you know, the only thing we didn't do was what they did in the Indian movies where they cut the finger and they became blood brothers. That's the only thing we didn't do. And I felt like we did that. without cutting and Now here we are”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “He said, Well, go to bed. I said, no, what were you doing? He said, I was at the hospital. Why were you there so late? You know? He answered me. He said there was a patient. It was a sick patient. I said, he must be better now because you're his doctor because my father could fix anything. My father, nothing gotten away with the truth. Nothing. Nothing, even blowing his son's bubble. Matter of fact, he said to me, No, he's not going to get better. He's So as a nine-year-old kid, you know, you're a kid, you're selfish, you know, not in a bad way, but. I said, Said two things first, they said how you're his doctor. How? It can't be. And then I said, I just said it almost angry. Then why were you there? Like you should have been here with me. And you know what he said to You don't give up on life. Go to bed And”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “I was searching for something. Yeah, I made it into a righteous search. I made it into, I did. And I made it into, it was okay because it was righteous. But it still did damage. Still did damage, it still hurt people, it still betrayed my father's trust. Portrayed mine, but he didn't do it maliciously. He did it out of, again, My father came home. This is how I'm going to connect it. My father came home from work one night at 12 o'clock and I was waiting up. And like I said, it was over nine, ten years old. And he got mad at me. He goes, go to bed. What are you doing up? I said, waiting for you.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “You know, that word legacy, what does it mean? Sometimes it's just a word. Sometimes it's more than a word. It's a reprieve. It's a pension plan. It's being given a pension on your way out for the rest of your life wherever you're going. You're going to wherever you're going for eternity. It's the only thing that you take with you as what you're left behind. And for Cuss, it was all about leaving behind a mark, a mark of champion. Yeah, it was attached to ego. We all have it. Yeah, it was attached to some selfishness and all. But yeah, it was also attached. To wanting to leave something great behind. To know that you were part of it, that you existed for a reason, that you sacrificed for a reason All that freaking pain I brought my father”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “It got to a place where everything was in one basket, the basket of boxing. He once told me that he never got married because it would be selfish to a woman to have gotten married when his whole life was boxing, that he couldn't give to a kid, he couldn't give to her. And then I thought about it. He had no money, really. Jim Jacobs and Bill Caton took care of the bills. So he didn't really need money that way. What was the payoff for that kind of life, that kind of commitment, that kind of sacrifice really, what was the payoff The payoff To have champions. To have a champion that would keep your name alive.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “It's a lot easier to figure it out, rationalize it, to find forgiveness when you realize that you still haven't figured out completely how to forgive yourself. I'm still trying to figure that out. So that helped me figure out how to forgive cuss. Because to figure out how to forgive me, I hadn't understood why I did these things, where the weaknesses came from, where the selfishness came from, where the convenience came from, that they really existed. But they didn't exist for malice. They existed for me not being prepared to understand that I could be stronger. Want to be stronger? And then I looked at Cuss. He wanted to be stronger, but he got to a point in life where he had been strong for a lot of his life. He was strong with me. He was strong with a lot of things in his life. And does everyone deserve a pass in life?”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “You can learn to forgive weakness. When you Realize how How easy it is to be weak. And when you realize that somebody asked me, how did you get to the point where you... You could forgive, right? It's a pretty good question, pretty simple, pretty basic, pretty important, right? And I didn't understand, I understood, but I did understand immediately for me. I said, how can I not forgive somebody? Becomes easier to learn how to forgive. When you're still trying to forgive yourself. You're still in the process of trying to forgive yourself for all your own inherent weaknesses and betrayals of people like my father. Different ways that we forget very easily because it's handy And it's a way of surviving.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “I serve my purpose. I got him to the way he needed to get. Life back in the gym. If I wasn't in the gym at that particular time, Tyson never would have been in the gym. There would have been no gym to bring him to. When they caught up and made that phone call to bring him to the gym, there would have been no activity. There would have been no boxing program. There would have been no trainer training them 24-7 the way I was where cuss wasn't capable of doing that at that point in his life But then again, it's not poor Teddy. I get the benefit of a career. I get the benefit of knowledge. I get the benefit of a life. I got the benefit of learning, of becoming hopefully a better person. I got the benefit of being betrayed again. But”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “Felt that he admired those traits. And so I assumed that he would show the same traits. And he took a deal. He took a deal. He took a deal. He signed the papers that those so-called feds of I signed. He took a deal to, you know. To have the future everyway champions it turned out and to let me go to sign the deal to let me take Know, take the”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “A while, I thought everything said to me was a liar, I didn't want to be any part of it anymore until I got a little more mature and I got a little past that. I was able to understand. I was able to understand. Because so many that you perceived as great in every area is you find to be weak in certain areas. They can still be what they want to It's something that. Something that can be understood or forgiven. It's hard. To get to that place and forgive somebody in that kind of way that I felt betrayed because Cus told me the most important thing was loyalty. Cuss told me he loved me because I was loyal. Cuss told people that the reason that he went to court was because I didn't give up anybody, even though it meant putting me in the risk of going to jail for 10 years.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Important part of the job. Make them face Make him face where he's lying to himself where he's submitting. What if we start this conversation with submission, submit less? Submit less, submit less every day, submit less because only come to gym once in a while. And if I had him spawning, he would come because that was his heavyweight. He came, you know, putting life in cuss. Cuss had life. He was losing a little life But that made the light bulb bright again. It did. And it was great to see. I felt proud of that. I felt connected to that. And that's why when it all went bad and took to the side that don't decide he could psych if the next heavyweight champ of the world. But he left me. Partner, the young master The second time I get betrayed, and I'm like”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “No, again, be easiest answer would be yes. Teddy Allis, genius. Wow, wow. Teddy's, wow. No, no, no. No, but again, it was my job. And I just. My job, it was simple, simpler than cusses, cuss knew too much. I knew nothing. I just knew, you know, rudiments of boxing, I knew what it took to be a fighter and how to execute it, the steps of executing it. So I took those steps. The rest of it, you get blurred by those other things. I wasn't blurred by those other things. It was just, get him in the gym. A mentally stronger, make them face things, and teach them how to slip punches and create holes and fill those freaking holes with the With devastating pungent, this is a cuss. And what are you going to do? I'm going to teach them to fill holes and fill them with punches with bad intentions And that became the monik”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “Yeah, the way he said yes, yes, sir. He said, What do you think about that? And we're talking, I said. Ain't gonna be that polite in a little while down the road. Again, he knew that that's what he felt that he needed to project himself as to present himself as to get to where he wanted to get to. He goes, yeah, yeah.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “He's twelve He's been arrested 30 times. Getting out of jail out of juvenile detention frion. He's a mess in a lot of ways. There's a lot of things we find out later, a lot of problems, weaknesses. He goes, and that's part of your job. That'll be part of your job. But he really said that. And then he turned to him. He goes, you want to come live with us, young man? You want to be a fighter? Yes. Even that, because that to me later, what do you think about that? I said, wait.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “right he goes now it's going to be your job to teach him to make him a fighter that don't get bloody noses that don't get hit and we'll get to that place without being coerced to get there to get to that place on his own Instead of using the things that he had to use to get to that place today, those things are not going to be available one day when you and listen to this. You talk about a man being prophetic because it's pretty good. You talk about man being on a job on a money, Lex. He says, how do you think he finishes the sentence? He goes, because someday, because, you know, you're going to have to make sure that he learns these things. Because, you know, he'll be your first heavyweight champ.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Yes, and I recognize what it really was. So cousin asked me, what was that? Want to know what the young master saw. So, cousin, what was that? I said He was an act. He goes, You saw that? He wants to go. I said, No. I said, he really want to go. But he knew that we want him to go and he made himself ready to go in order to satisfy him. And that's just as good. And God said, damn right, it's just as good. All that matters was not how he got there, but that he got there. That's all that matters that he got there. That he got to the place to act like a fighter, to do what we want him to do, to be ready to persevere, to go beyond the comfort level, to do another round. He didn't want to. Damn right he didn't want to, but he knew we want him to, and he knew in order to pass the test, he had to do it. And he said”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “So I get up there and I know that I'm going to be training them. I got to show them who the boss is. Know I'm being really frank about this. So I get up there and say, that's it out. Now, you know, this is Titus. No, let me go. I want to do another round. I want to do another one. I said out. Did you hear what I said? Because I know that, you know, he was going to test me, he was testing me. I said, I said, get out. You got out.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “Yeah, that day, you know, that day was funny because when Custer, what did you see, Teddy? After two rounds, I got up in a ring. I knew I was going to train him. Obviously, we weren't going to say no. And he still had about four months to serve, and we were going to work it out. When I got up on a ring apron, that's my gym. I'm the boss. People later on in life call me a dictator. You know what I said? Yeah, you're right. I didn't deny people thought you mean I might? Yeah, I'm a dictator. I'm a trainer. I'm the boss. I'm in charge. You wouldn't be here if I wasn't. What the fick do you need me for if I'm not freaking in charge? You idiot. Yeah, yeah, damn right. What do you think it's a shared responsibility? No, it's my responsibility. That's why you're here. Yeah, I am in charge. You shouldn't be here if you don't understand that.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “Get the job done, but he did it his way, and he did it for a lot of a myriad of reasons. But at the end of the day, it was all good. I just had to understand that eventually later on.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Yeah, it was. It worked, cousins knew how to work me. And he did. And it worked. And so, but you know what? I didn't mind being worked. I kind of knew I was being shuffled a little bit.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “You know, young master, you know what I mean? I felt like that guy Kung Fu, you know, like in the movie, like Kung Fu, grasshopper, when you're ready, when you could take this out of my hand, you can leave.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “After that bloody, he never got another bloody nose. You know why he didn't get hit? Because he learned. Still strong, but he was smarter now. Anyway, he goes two rounds. And I saw, and I'm being responsible because if he goes more, it's not responsible. I saw what I needed to say. I saw speed. I saw power. I saw athleticism. And I saw, I didn't believe him. I thought he was lying to me. I'm just telling you. I thought he was lying, trying to act tough when he wasn't really feeling tough. It didn't matter. Cuz questioned me on it afterwards. What did you see? And when I said, he goes, Young master, you know, again, he wasn't paying me money. So he had to give me something, right? And that was better than that was currency. Young master, young master. Whoa.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “I said, it's like going to Macy's window on Christmas. He goes, What do you mean, Macy's window? You know, Chris was like, boom, boom, boom. So, what do you mean, Macy, with him? Oh, you go to Macy's window, and they get the window with everything you want to see. Everything in there. And it looks great. Everything. And yeah, and then what? Well, then you ask, what's in the warehouse? And they tell you nothing. And cuss this. That's it. That's a And I wanted to see what was in the warehouse. Because they saw what was in Macy's window. I saw the power, I saw the speed. So he goes two rounds and he gets a bloody nose. Here's the weird thing, not weird. Very telly. We knew what we were doing. Not bragging, but we knew what we were doing because He got a bloody nose because he got hit.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “I was being responsible after two rounds, that's enough. Normally, I don't put a guy into boxing until maybe four months, five months, six months, eight months, it depends what it takes to learn on the floor before it's responsible to put them in a ring to actually take on incoming real live shows instead of blanks. And so normally I wouldn't have men. And I knew after today he wouldn't be in the ring again if I trained him. I would teach him first. And then he'd get back in in a few months. But for this day, it was the only way. It's kind of like I used to make this announce to your cuss loved it. He said, what's trading on FIDO? What do you look for trading a fighter, Teddy? You know, he asked me these ridiculous questions just to test me. And I say, it's like going to Macy's with, he loved it.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “He could change, possibly change his life. He wasn't sure what. How could he be sure what? Exactly. But it was better than what he had. And so he was on all this. So he wanted, he innately understood what we would want to see ferociousness, toughness, character, desire, you know, and of course ability. Well, we saw the ability, power, speed, but it was unbridled. It was untaught. It was raw. He didn't know really much at all at all. We saw that. But he wanted to show more. He knew that wasn't enough. Again, innate intelligence. He had to show desire. He had to show toughness. And so...”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  34. “Specimen, and Yeah, and listen. Cos was right. I was a teacher. He was right. And he was testing me even that day. He said, what do you think? So I said, well, we ain't going to know nothing in the bag. Who the frick cares about that? He knocked the bag down. We got to put him in, we got known to put them in that way. I didn't have anyone that way. We got to test them. Everyone's got to be tested. And so you got to put them in. Responsibly, but let's put them in. But let's put them in with Bobby Stewart, former pro fide ad, 14 profiles. Smaller than Tyson. When he was fighting, he was 175. But still, he's 28 years old. Tyson's 12. Come on. And he'll work with him, right? So we do. We put him away. Tyson, he recognized a moment. He understood this was an audition. This was a chance, you know, this was that TV show. It changed your life. And he understood that if he passed the audition,”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  35. “And then all of a sudden, after four years of that, because I was up there seven years, eight years, eight years, after about three and a half, four years of that, we get a phone call that they get this kid in prison and try on prison from one of the guys that knew Cuss, Matt Perezki. And there's a correction officer named Bobby Stewart who used to box, and Cuss had helped him out a little bit, a little bit. And they knew we had this gym now that was really starting to become something because we were winning tournaments and everything else. The corner was like, we got this kid, Mike Tyson. He's 12 years old. He's 190 pounds. He's a mess. But Bobby Stuart got involved with him, the former fighter, and he's taken a liking to it. And now where he didn't behave at all and he didn't listen to anyone. Now he's listening because Bobby's got a carrot and the carrot is hit.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  36. “All these kids, and I'm teaching them and I'm building a gym. And Carson only came once a week because he was semi-retired. And when he would come once a week, he knew he couldn't give me money, but he gave me more than money. He gave me praise. And he said, look what Atlas is doing. He's creating champions. And I was like, whoa, yeah. I'm doing good”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  37. “And I was a teacher and I start teaching these kids and there's no one in the gym that's dead. And all of a sudden there's 10 kids, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 Catskill Boxing Club, which was never there. Now it's there. And I'm training fighters. I'm taking them down to South Bronx to get experience. One of his former fighters, Nelson Cuevas, down to South Bronx. I'm taking down there to get smokers, to get fights when they're ready. I'm wearing out Dungarees. I'm getting hold of my dungarees. I was fashionable before Ford was fashionable to have holes in my dungarees. I could have made a lot of money with that. Because I was on my knees with these little kids nine years old, 10 years old. Eight years old, 12, 13, 14, 15.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  38. “I see him. All the knowledge of the world, whatever, is in these. All right. Means nothing if you don't have somebody to convey it to people. Otherwise, it just sits on a bookshelf and looks good. He goes, you have the ability to convey knowledge to people. You're a teacher. You were born to be a teacher. You'd lessen yourself by only being a champion fighter because you'd only take care of one person. You could take care of all kinds of people and you could do this and you could do that and you could do this. So we go on this venture. It took a minute because I didn't believe him at first. But finally I am. I'm there. I'm training fighters. And then he gets me. Buy in”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  39. “So I couldn't leave Cuz. And he kind of knew that. And so, you know, I couldn't leave him. And he said, you have an ability to teach. He said, knowledge means nothing He said, See these Pricatica? He had Britannica Encyclopedia, the whole set in our library. He said, you see these?”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  40. “It was above a police station, which was crazy. And he needed an ad to the throne. He needed to pass it on to someone. And he saw something. And all of a sudden he saw that my career as a box was less important than having me become his heir to the drone and become his trainer, his man, his guy to continue that we could do a lot more for him and for everyone, not just for him, but for everyone. It was more like to keep it going. It couldn't die. It couldn't die. And the cousins was afraid that it would die with him. And he committed his whole life to it. He didn't get married because of boxing. So he saw me as the little bit of the seed to plant for more things to grow. before that plant died. And so all of a sudden he says, you can't fight. And I had people tell me that I could go somewhere else and fight. And I could. I couldn't”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  41. “Yeah, he believed that to be a champion, you had to be special. You had to be smart. You had to have character. You had to be a better person. And that you couldn't make a champion if you didn't make him a better person first. And that could strengthen people. The sport could strengthen people in those ways. He was married to it, and he was old and he needed, there was no one in the gym. It was empty.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  42. “Cuz was like you can't. And he had it set up a little bit. Whatever, without getting into it, hey, he did me a favor. And I like to think he knew he was doing me a favor. And you know what? I do think he was. He was doing himself a little bit one, too. But he was doing it for the greater cause because he believed in this thing of boxing. He believed that it changed lives. He believed that it was worthwhile. He believed that there was a power to it beyond the left hook.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  43. “didn't even know there was an option I didn't think I know the cops said you could do this but there was no option my father never had an option But the betrayal, the private betrayal was like, and so when Cus We were partners, me and Cuss. Cuz was retired Stupid kid goes up there, and all of a sudden I start training fighters. First, I won the gloves, because put me in the gloves. I want a gloves that I had an injury, whatever. But bottom line is, I still want to fight. I want to turn pro. I want to fight. That was the plan. Cus had a different plan.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  44. “And especially when we're standing in the cell in Reichers looking at the airplanes, leave LaGuardia Airport and then hoping I was on one. I was making like a deal with God that let me be on one of those planes and let it crash. I'll take a shot”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  45. “I guess it was the second time in my life I felt betrayed. The first time was when. That was whatever young seventeen, and I got arrested. I was with all these older guys, tough guys, whatever. And supposedly. And the detective separated us, that's what they do. And, you know, they asked me who did whatever, who's gotten this, that, you know, all that particulars of obviously what we did. And it was me. And they said, are you sure? You know, I'd change that. Because your friends changed it. And these cops were nasty, but they were cops. You're going to wind up in Rikers and they're going to be doing this to you. And I won't even say the things because, well, why say them? Figure it out. But, you know, they're trying to get what they're trying to get. And, you know, you want to change it. And no But I felt very betrayed”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  46. “Now, you have to have to get hurt here. What do you mean get hurt? It's going to be painful. I mean, to be loyal, you know, you're going to be in danger because the person that you committed to your loyalty to for a reason because obviously you did something in your life, whatever, whatever, you're actually going to get hurt to be loyal to them. You're actually going to, hold on a minute. Wait, hold on a minute, coach. Hold on, out of here. Let me think about this, coach. I might need more practice. I'm not ready for the game. I'm not ready to go in the game yet. Give me a little more practice, coach. And it hurts to be loyal. It freaking hurts. But without loyalty, we're ghost ships. We got no strength. We got nothing. We got nothing.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  47. “Our loyalty, we're dead. We're freaking vessels. I never understood what a ghost ship was. You know what? I got old. I know what a ghost ship is. It's people. It's people that are empty. They got no loyalty Therefore, they got no humanity. Therefore, they get For freak them. Freak them. And you know why they don't have loyalty? Convenience. And you know why? Because it's hard to be loyal. It's actually hard. I'll be a son of a gun. You tell me, yeah, it sounds great. Give it to me, give it to me, paint me with it. It's great. Yeah, I'm loyal. Yeah, I'm, yeah, this is ready. I'm on that team. Put me in, coach. I'm ready. Okay.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  48. “That's quite a statement. But the life blood of humanity for me is loyalty. It's what goes through the veins of, you know, everything has to have some veins and some form. And humanity has veins what runs through the veins of humanity instead of blood to keep it alive is loyalty without loyalty.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  49. “I was trying to rationalize something. I was trying to make someone an excuse for something. I was trying to make myself better than I was. I was trying to say it was okay. And he just looked at me. And he liked me. And he said, Teddy. Ain't no such thing as being a little pregnant. He's a real United Truthful, you're not truthful. Either you're tough or you're not tough. Either you're committed or you're not committed. Either you in or you're out.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  50. “You know, it wasn't easy to accumulate them. It was a little bit hurtful. So submit less because we submit every day. And if we can get to a place where we submit or compromise ourselves less, we'll get to a better place. You know, again, one of the words for me that attaches to things that give you... That wind up hurting you in life and have hurt me in life, one of those boogeymen words is the word of convenience. That's attached to everything. Disappoint you not because they want to disappoint you or let you down or betray you. Because they want to betray you, they do it because it's more convenient to do. Then the other thing An old man once told me, he said to me.”

    2023-12-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #406 – Teddy Atlas: Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato, Boxing, Loyalty, Fear & Greatness · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source