I’m a big Teddy Atlas fan and I respect his opinion as far as boxing goes, but I think that he is way out of line when it comes to the Manny/Floyd PED subject. It seems to me that he was just casually talking out of his ass on a live telecast and now he seems pissed that he’s being held accountable for it. He’s pretty much admitting that he read an article on the internet that that discussed this alleged email from Manny’s camp, and he took it at face value and blurted it out on air. He is contributing to the Manny/PED witch hunt that that temporarily destroyed one of the biggest bouts in boxing history. I think that both sides are at fault to a certain extent, but if “Money” May was as confident as he claims to be as one of the p4p best in history, then he should have scaled back on his demands once it became apparent that the entire fight was in jeopardy. I was a big Mayweather supporter, and I respect his gifts as a fighter, but he lost me as a fan when it became apparent that the money and the zero on his record were more important than making competitive fights. I understand now why Paul Williams has never, and will probably never be mentioned as a possible Mayweather opponent. Which is ridiculous. His “I wanna whoop his punk ass” comment is a little late and contradictory to his actions. I noticed this when he was first asked about the possibility of the fight during the post fight interview after his Marquez fight. He strangely refused to comment on Manny when asked by Kellerman at that time, which was a much different response than what I had seen in his previous post fight interviews. This fight was dead before it started in my opinion. I’m glad you held Teddy accountable for his comments in the interview. Maybe next time he’ll be more careful before expressing his opinions and preconceived notions about people without having any substance behind it. Keep up the great work. Big fan of the site. JW
Leon’s Response: I think Teddy is a knowledgeable guy with very strong opinions. Bob Arum called me after reading the interview and said Teddy sounds like a guy under a lot of corporate pressure from the suits at ESPN. If Mayweather were as confident as he talks no additional testing would be necessary. De La Hoya did quite well against Vargas and Mosley regardless of what they were on. If Mayweather is the GOAT he should be able to beat Pacquiao under commission jurisdiction. Williams is also advised by Al Haymon, which is why he’d never be considered a Floyd replacement.
Whats up Btalk? Haven’t wrote in in a while. Glad to see the site back up and pumping. Neither Floyd or Pac is the best at WW until one faces Shane. Pac has put the pressure on Floyd by choosing Clottey as his opponent. If Floyd fights Tim Bradley or any another Jr WW then he will have officially been exposed as a cherry-picker. There is no one at Jr. WW that brings ANY money to the table and it will strictly be a safety first fight. Pac has been exposed also. He turned down $30 million because he didn’t want to take a blood test. Some people were accusing Mark McGwire of using back when he hit 70 homers and there was a backlash against everyone who accused him. Now look at him! Now watch Pac fight Top Rank fighters for a year he can clean his system and avoid being tested. Did JuanMa Lopez really think Caballero was going to fight him for free? Green vs Bika has fireworks written all over it. I pick Adamek over Arreola! James Toney should retire if he can’t get back down to Cruiserweight. And boy did Teddy Atlas put G. Leon hatin @$$ in check! Teddy was really speaking his mind and made valid points. I was glad that G posted it and didn’t edit it out. So props to him for that. Big Paw, MD
Leon’s Response: Since they’re not fighting each other whichever one of them is able to beat Shane first becomes that dude. Clottey is no easy fight and I would be far from shocked if Clottey won. Pac turned down the fight because of the way the Mayweather’s smeared him as much as anything else. Unlike Mayweather, Pacquiao has done the imaginable, he’s brought himself to the Mayweather level and he’s ACTUALLY LOST A FIGHT. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?
This is my first time writing in to you but felt the need to.I had alot of respect for Teddy Atlas but this interview(Good Job by the way)showed he is nothing but a bully.I mean he made one good point about Toney and Roach in his corner(I forgot all about that one)anyway its obvious he didn’t want to hear nothing about Pacman and Money both being 106 when they turned pro.Who really cares if Floyd wants to take the test too(personally I think Floyd will beat Manny in a boring fight)Manny is showing he is in control not Floyd and he aint bowing down to his demands,Floyd proably doesnt want to be punked again like Oscar did him 154lb,which glove,and so forth.The cause of this is Mayweather didnt do nuthin after he beat Oscar.He retired ,unretired fought Hatton ,and retired again!Manny has been fighting some quality opposition,I mean look at the situation now he is fighting Clottey(who can knock him for that of course we all would have liked to see him face Floyd)Who is Floyd going to face Campbell come on you got to call bullshit when you see it plain and simple.Floyd has some idiots advising him or he is dumb as hell.The only way he can save face is to wait after the 30th and fight Mosley.By the way Greg do you think Mosley will agree to Floyds testing requirements? Floyd is not the Nevada commission and I feel Manny ,Roach,and Arum arent going to let him get nuthing but 50 percent on the purse split period!Teddy Atlas talks tough why cant he produce those emails I hope Manny sue’s his ass as well. Peace, Rio
Leon’s Response: Teddy was definitely in control of the conversation and when I began to play devil’s advocate and the take the other position, he quickly decided it was time for the conversation to conclude. The Mayweather people made the consummation of this bout calculus complicated when it should have been a simple close. Allowing additional procedures to become a deal breaker is the part that both guys are going to have to live with. Lots of things could have been done differently and they weren’t so it’s time to move on.
Greg, I received those same emails from Team Pacquiao in my spam box. It was titled, “Official Team Pacquiao Secret – Don’t share this!”. Strange that it was CC’d (copied) to Mayweather Sr. and P. Malinaggi and was traced back to a mansion in Las Vegas(according to my trusted source). lol Honestly i get emails from fake senders every 3 hours. haha.. internet these days.. i’ve lost some respect for Teddy. He’s always sided with mayweathers.. so im not suprised if he helped pull this rumor. Teddy didnt even believe margarito cheated as he thought it was too ‘crazy’ to be real. If teddy atlas’s source was michael moorer ,lol then michael moorer just belied atlas’s claims,he basically called atlas a liar,lol,moorer said pacs clean and his successes are all due to hard work and tha he had nothing but respect for manny ,its on yahoo news and espn news.I still admire and respect Teddy Atlas for the good things he’s done for the sport and his boxing knowledge- but he should stick to analyzing fighters, leave the hardcore investigative journalism to real journalists…and stay in his lane! In any rate, the good news is that atleast an entertaining, great fight is coming to my city..march 13 and I won’t miss It.~Joe in Dallas
Leon’s Response: I never got those emails. I thought Moorer was the source for obvious reasons and if he was the remarks he made certainly left Teddy to twist in the wind. But after giving it some thought I’m not so sure Moorer was the source anymore.
“If you are going to call me, i am going to talk” Classic Gangstar, You can’t shut Atlas down for Arum, let Bob do it himself. That stuff is so funny like Jerry Springer. Why don’t you go hard at the Bobfather, oh i forgot, he is your new boss. You are full of shit G., but it pays the bill, and you know i will be reading your bullshit at least untill Buisness pick back up.
Leon’s Response: For somebody who didn’t want to talk, he sure wouldn’t let me get a word in. I was looking forward to discussing if Atlas feels we can raise the level of boxing programming over at ESPN by simply cutting back on what they pay their boxing writers. Bob is far from my boss, he’s my Bobfather and based on the way I’ve roasted him and others who unlike Mayweather, can still talk to me.
You are on fire. Glad to see you are handling your business with boxingtalk. Here is something to consider for all you boxingtalk readers. Floyd Mayweather Sr., Teddy Atlas, and Tim Smith all came on record and directly or indirectly said Pacquiao is on steroids. All of those guys have been around boxing most of their lives and no things that happen that the general public does not no. Just food for thougt. As for Mayweather I think he beats Pacquiao steroids or no steroids. I think he loses against Mosley. What Mayweather should do now is call himself the people’s champion and do an online poll of who the people think he should fight in his next 3 outings. And he should fight them. Imagine if he did that and won all three in convincing fashion. He would be undisputed the pound for pound king. Floyd if you’re reading that is something you may want to consider brother. Dale- Canada
Leon’s Response: Thanks for the kind words. Boxingtalk is taking it to the next level this year. I wouldn’t want to compete with me when I have this kind of time on my hands. Has Mayweather ever really fought who the die hards wanted him to fight? What makes you think he’ll start now? Maybe will fight whoever “his team” feels makes the most sense (and dollars) period. I agree Mayweather beats Pacquiao regardless and I also favor Shane over Floyd as well.
Great Teddy Atlas interview but wow, whats up with your insistant dogging of Mayweather. You refuse to allow anything but your own view point. Im glad Teddy Atlas didnt back down because it is Not out of the realm of possibility that Pacquiao or anyone else may be using illigal drugs. No one confesses to cheating until they get caught but in a sport like boxing you’d damn well better play it safe than sorry if you have ANY doubts- regardless of what Nevada Commision allows. These same Commisions allowed Mosley, Vargas, Briggs & Toney to fight while juiced up. After such travesties we all should be joining in WITH Mayweather calling for better oversight. Margarito was never suspect of being a cheat yet he got caught attempting to club Mosley with cement substance hidden in his gloves. Boxer’s lives are on the line in that ring so this is much deeper than any petty differences there may be against Mayweather. Thank you.
Leon’s Response: Based on what you should already know about my views on the topic, the stance I took with Atlas should far from surprise you. Did anybody get seriously in the fights you mentioned? Has Mayweather become so fragile in his time off that the Pacquiao fight would be different or is it because according to Mayweather, don’t you know they got the best steroids over there? Boxing should have higher standards of testing YES I AGREE. But not just because Mayweather says so while tarnishing the recent run of Manny Pacquiao.
Excellent interview with Teddy Atlas. I have to agree with everything he said. Theese Pactards are ignoring common sense. Freddie Roach has trained a HOF cheater before in James Toney who used steriods. And Ironically moved from 160 all the way to Heavyweight. Not to mention Bob Arum has promoted a known cheater, the most feared man in boxing.lol Not so tough with out the plaster in his wraps, ask Mosley. If Pacman refuses the test he is guilty. If you don’t allow a cop to check your blood-Alcohol level you still get a DUI right. He guilty until prove innoncent.
Leon’s Response: Glad you enjoyed the read. The point he made about Roach with Toney was stellar, other than that it was a lot of his opinion with logic that would certainly receive the full endorsement of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pacman being guilty until proven innocent is what the Mayweather camp was looking to accomplish. I couldn’t disagree with you more. Pacquiao is innocent until proven guilty and if he’s passed tests that Vargas and Mosley failed, check that, updated versions of those tests, then I really couldn’t disagree with you more. You know if Pacquiao stops Clottey Mayweather never fights him, or he starts requesting additional HIV tests, because you know they got the most deadliest AIDS over there in the Philippines LMAO.
Are you on Arum’s payroll? I swear some months back when I use to frequent this site, you were unbiased or maybe I have amnesia but what is with all this hate you spew towards Floyd now? You type more subliminal messages then Jay-Z verses!! Come on G, you better then that! Love that Teddy Atlas interview, happy he tried to get HIS point across (since it was his opinion) while you continually tried to cut him off to once again support your agenda/beef against Mayweather. You can blame it on whoever, pick sides if you want too..but in reality this is about a drug test..A DRUG TEST SON!! Come on G keep it 100, and try to keep it unbiased for 2010 (should of been your new years resolution, less hate more love)…you bigger then that! C’MON SON! Jay P in Vegas!!
Leon’s Response: Can’t say I am. Months back the site was dead compared to what it is right now, so I’m sure you weren’t reading much. I was trying to cut him off because one of his answers was quite, quite lengthy. I love Floyd Mayweather, I have a lot of respect and admiration for him and I can’t wait for him to come home.
Yo my man , you sound like a trial lawyer the way you were trying to argue Pacquiaos case to Teddy Atlas. I have never read one of your articles with Arum where you pressed him at all when it came to Pacquiao refusing to take a blood test. In every interview you just let him ramble on about Mayweather and Golden Boy and you never once defended Mayweather the way you defended Pacquiao, you are a hater seriously. You have lost so much credibility since this whole issue has come about I don’t know if I am listening to a Pacquiao camp member or a independent journalist. What was the females name that you lost to someone in the Mayweather camp that has turned you into a public hater for everybody to see.
Leon’s Response: I guess I should’ve called the bailiff to keep Atlas on the phone a bit longer. If I agreed with the Mayweather position I would have gone in on Arum. If you’ve been reading boxingtalk for a while you should know Arum has read more negative ink about him on Boxingtalk than Mayweather has. MUCH MORE.
Dear Mr. Deleon: I wish you could have ask Mr. Atlas to check his facts before broadcasting something. Dan Rather was fired because of getting tainted information. Robert Chicago
Leon’s Response: He obviously feels confident with his information and there’s nothing in my interview that leads you to believe he’s going to retract his remarks anytime soon.
I want you to ask Teddy Atlas, the mayweather camp and all those who claim Pacquiao is on Ped’s..why he has never came up dirty even when took a blood test during the hatton fight! And why there’s so much fuss even though Pacquiao agreed to take a blood test after the fight!
Leon’s Response: I’m sure he would point to the masking agents. Someone said trial lawyer please. If that were the case, I would have asked him to name one of these sophisticated masking agents.
Mayweather called pacquiao a one dimentioanl fighter with no skill easy to beat and probabaly easier than marque De la hoya said he don’t punch that hard or else he could have KO me suddenly when pacquiao scheduled to fight Floyd he became a heavy puncher and been accuse of using steroids. and pac been called a catch weight king MY Q: is if manny beat all this fighter with catch weight and floyd did not how could Tedy Atlas might think that pac is on Steroids 2nd Q: is in it Floyd gain more quicker in weight than pac and fought De Lahoya in 154? 3rd is Tedy Atlast that stupid as a media that doing a report with out the evidence? and its only hear say (accodring to my trusted source)
Leon’s Response: Mayweather utters millions of ass kissing syllables at Oscar De La Hoya on Boxingtalk.com chats to get the De La Hoya fight and then once the contracts are signed, he goes on a publicity tour saying nasty things about Oscar, who now promotes him. What am I getting at? Should we really hhtake what he says seriously?
