Teddy Atlas to train Oleksandr Gvozdyk for world title shot

Teddy Atlas is getting back to work as a lead trainer, ESPN reports. Atlas, who works as a fight analyst for ESPN, informed the network that he’s reached an agreement to train light heavyweight contender Oleksandr Gvozdyk (15-0, 12 KOs) who is currently scheduled to take on Adonis Stevenson on Dec. 1 for a shot at the WBC title.

Atlas says the decision to return to training wasn’t an easy one, and that he was only able to make the commitment after traveling to California to spend time with Gvozdyk and his family — not all that dissimilar from how Timothy Bradley lured him back into training a few years ago. Atlas and Bradley worked together for a couple of fights before Bradley hung up the gloves and Atlas returned to broadcasting full-time.

“I had to ask myself, ‘Am I ready to do this again?’ Are you emotionally ready to do this again? I’ve been training fighters since I was a kid, since I was 21 years old training [Hall of Famer] Wilfred Benitez. That took me a couple of weeks to decide,” Atlas said. “It’s not something to decide on in a couple of days. And after all these years training fighters, your neck hurts, your shoulder, the back.”

With the move Gvozdyk, 31, will be parting ways with previous trainer Marco Contreras. When asked why Gvozdyk wanted to split with Contreras, manager Egis Klimas simply stated that Gvozdyk felt it was time to step it up in training and wanted more individual attention in the gym.