'Iron' Mike Tyson - Man or Machine? [Part 1]

‘Iron’ Mike Tyson is considered by many as one of the most intimidating boxers of all time and by others as a poor and limited fighter. There’s just one thing you can be sure about him – when he steps into the squared circle, he doesn’t care who is he facing, he doesn’t know what is going to happen, he doesn’t know when it’s going to happen, he doesn’t know how it’s going to happen, but he knows who is going to win.

Mike was born on 30th June, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, which is considered to be one of the reasons of his intimidating style of boxing. Tyson’s father abandoned his family when the young champ was only 2 years old. The rough streets of Brooklyn still tell frightening stories about Tyson’s brutal street brawls. If anyone dared to make fun of Tyson’s voice, the young brawler quickly turned him into a bloody mess. That unstoppable rage and hate were later redirected in boxing by his first coach Bobby Steward. But before he could reach Steward, Mike had to be arrested 38 times for various crimes and sent to Tryon School for Boys at the age of just 13. There he was discovered by Steward and trained for several months. There are still stories about Tyson training all night for weeks. Bobby Steward was a wise man and realized that Mike needs a better coach than him and fortunately he knew just the right guy.
A new episode of the young champion’s life began when he was introduced to Cus D’Amato – considered to be one of the best coaches worldwide and to have a great influence on Tyson’s life. Cus saw something in Tyson. By that time he was in his late years and had already trained such champions as Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres. But still he wasn’t finished with his mission. He saw a new champion in Tyson, who combined speed, outstanding power and was practically untouchable. He began to transform Mike from a street brawler into a boxing champion. He soon realized that Tyson, who by the time he was 15 weighed more than a 180 pounds, was too short for a heavyweight. So he created an ultimate formula so that his champion was not only the strongest puncher in the division, but also combined both the speed of a lightweight and that distinguished head movement of his.
When Mike arrived at the gym he was put to the test. In one corner was a 27 year-old, professional boxer and in the other was a 13 year-old kid. According to Teddy Atlas (Tyson’s first real trainer) - “Tyson didn’t know anything. He was raw, he was crude, but he was strong as hell…”So Tyson’s reputation grew bigger every day. Soon his amateur career began and what of a start it was. Even at the age of teenager, Tyson created fear in his opponent’s hearts. He is the holder of the fastest knockout in the Junior Olympics – 8 seconds via a tremendous right hand. Tyson’s aggression became his distinguished trade mark and his left hook is to be remembered forever.