Teddy Atlas would like to train one fighter in particular should he return to coaching.
The 66-year-old is primarily a boxing commentator and analyst today while he also has his own YouTube channel. However, he was also a coach back in the day and trained a number of world champions including Michael Moorer, Timothy Bradley and Alexander Povetkin to name a few.
If he was to train anyone today, it would have to be someone with talent and ability, but has failed to make the most use of these gifts.
And for Atlas, lightweight superstar Ryan Garcia fits the bill.
“It would be a guy who has shown ability, but he hit a dead end,” Atlas said on his YouTube channel (via Boxing-Social). “He hit a dead end, not from lacking talent, but because he didn’t get taught how to use that talent to its utmost.
“It would be a guy like Ryan Garcia. He fell short, he’s got some ability, but he has fallen short in certain dimensions, technical is one of them but mental is the main one. I want a challenge but I want the challenge to have a chance to end with something big, significant! I want to do something that not everyone could do. It starts with having a cause, having a person that needs help.”
Garcia recently suffered his first professional defeat after being on the receiving end of a body shot KO from Gervonta Davis in their April fight.
Some have criticized him for his performance while others feel he's more of a social media star rather than a boxer.
However, the talent is clearly there with the American and having Atlas in his corner would certainly take him to another level.
With that said, Garcia recently parted ways with Joe Goossen following his defeat to Davis and is now being trained by Derrick James as he gets set to make the permanent move up to super lightweight.
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