SPLIT DECISION

By STEVE SPRINGER

Nov. 6, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

LAS VEGAS — Trainer Teddy Atlas, the man who molded and scolded, inspired and infuriated Michael Moorer as he guided the heavyweight to his greatest triumphs, won’t be in Moorer’s corner Saturday night in his title-unification bout against Evander Holyfield at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Atlas won’t even watch the bout on television.

But he will be rooting . . . for Moorer to lose.

“I don’t have good feelings for him,” Atlas said from his New York home. “He forced me into a position to leave. He had less respect for me than I had for him.

“I could have stayed there and hated him. I could have just counted the days off the calendar.

“But I couldn’t stay there and be content with myself. I invested a lot in him, but I made a choice to walk. It’s a serious thing.

“I don’t want him to win. I’m not a phony. I can’t say something nice just so my image would be healthier. I can’t say that I wish the best for this young man. If I could make that statement, I probably would have stayed for the money.”

But all that said, Atlas said his absence won’t make a difference.

“I think he [Moorer] will win,” Atlas said. “It’s all set up for him. I think he should win.”

Moorer, the International Boxing Federation champion, had already won the light-heavyweight and heavyweight titles of the lesser-regarded World Boxing Union when Atlas hooked up with him in December of 1993.

Five months later, in only his second fight under Atlas, Moorer won a majority decision over Holyfield to give him both the World Boxing Assn. and IBF titles.

Moorer subsequently lost both titles when he suffered a 10th-round knockout at the hands of George Foreman, still Moorer’s only defeat, but Moorer came back to win the IBF title last year with a decision over Axel Schulz, and has since retained it twice, against Francois Botha and Vaughn Bean.

But it hasn’t been easy. Not for Moorer. Not for Atlas.

After Foreman knocked him out, Moorer wanted to quit, according to Atlas.

The trainer said he flew down to see Moorer in Florida and told him, “Get off your [butt] and fight or you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Atlas berated Moorer in his corner when he thought his fighter wasn’t aggressive enough, threatening to go in and fight himself on one occasion, threatening to tell the referee to call off the fight during another less-than-sparkling outing. Atlas went so far as to hold up a cellular phone in the corner in Moorer’s last fight, an unimpressive victory over the unimpressive Bean, telling Moorer his son was on the line wanting to know why Moorer didn’t want to fight.

But it wasn’t all those histrionics that ultimately sank the Moorer-Atlas relationship. It was, according to Atlas, a dispute Moorer had with his manager, John Davimos.

When it appeared that monetary differences were going to cause Moorer and Davimos to split up, Atlas says he told Moorer that if Davimos was gone, so was he.

Davimos and Moorer ultimately settled their financial differences, but the damage had been done. Moorer didn’t speak to his manager or trainer for the final six weeks before the Bean fight.

“It was a horrendous camp,” Atlas said. “I had gotten to the point where I hated [Moorer]. That’s the position he put me in. Every day was a test. Every day was an assault. At one point, I told him, ‘Get in the ring or get the hell out of here.’ ” The day after the Bean fight, Moorer told Davimos, “I can’t fight like this.”

He didn’t have to. That conversation was the beginning of a dialogue that resulted in the fighter and the manager resuming their relationship.

But the trainer was another matter. Atlas had stormed out, refusing to return unless Moorer called him. Presumably, Atlas is no longer sitting by the phone.

It was a costly move for Atlas, who got 10% of Moorer’s purses. With Moorer getting $5 million to fight Holyfield, the WBA champion, Atlas is losing out on half a million dollars.

To replace Atlas, Moorer hired Freddie Roach, a former fighter who has managed six world champions.

Moorer, who says he still respects Atlas, won’t discuss the differences between the two trainers except to say of Roach, “Freddie allows me to be me. That’s what it all boils down to, me being me.”

What does that mean?

“Teddy was more of a dictator,” Roach said. “I just fit in. I told Michael, ‘I think I can bring out the best in you.’

“I give Teddy Atlas credit. Michael won with him. But I don’t think Michael ever listened to him. Michael won on his own. I’ve gotten more out of him by being his friend than his enemy.”

Atlas maintains that Moorer needed more than a friend until now. He needed a motivator.

“For the first Holyfield fight,” Atlas said, “Michael needed me because he was not sure he belonged there. He was intimidated about fighting for the heavyweight title. His greatest flaw is a lack of confidence.

“If this fight had turned out to be against [Mike] Tyson, Michael would have camped out in front of my house with a cot until I came back. Tyson, style-wise, psychs him out. Tyson would have caused him tremendous, tremendous problems.

“But at this point in [Moorer’s] life, now that he’s over his insecurities, he has the liberty to say things about me.”

But what if Moorer should lose Saturday? What if he decides he needs Atlas after all? Would Atlas come back if asked?

“I didn’t stay with the guy for the wedding,” Atlas said. “I’m not going to come back for the funeral.”