“Nobody Could Do to Me What He Could, Never, No One”: 37 Years After His Death, Mike Tyson Gets Emotional While Paying Tribute to His “Greatest” Mentor, Cus D’Amato

There are hardly any boxing fans who do not know about the relationship between the legendary trainer Cus D’Amato and Mike Tyson. Meeting Cus was a moment that flipped the young Tyson’s whole life around. At the hands of a great coach, the incredible talent of Tyson was nurtured to its fullest. Cus instilled discipline, focus, and determination in the young hot-blooded Tyson. Without Cus, it is doubtful Tyson would have grown to become ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’.

Cus was the person who turned Mike into ‘Iron Mike’. Tyson has revealed how Cus was hypercritical of him. It was Cus who advised him to work on his body so that he would become more intimidating. He compared Tyson with Mike Weaver and Ken Norton, which hurt the young Tyson’s ego. However, it was then Tyson said, “One day the whole world is going to be afraid of me. When they mention my name, they’ll sweat blood, Cus.”

So when Cus D’Amato tragically passed away in 1985, the young 19-year-old Tyson must have felt devastated. To Tyson, Cus was more than a mentor, he was almost like a father figure in his life. Cus’ death left Tyson feeling devastated and adrift.

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However, even after death, the foundations he had laid within Tyson continued to push him forward. Tyson has even revealed that he was and still is afraid of Cus. Tyson went on to achieve astonishing success in the ring. Mike Tyson once again shared his respect for his trainer. He even lost his words as he got so emotional while paying tribute to Cus 37 years after his death.

Mike Tyson pays tribute to his late trainer Cus D’Amato

Recently, Tyson appeared on an episode of the PBD Podcast. At one point during the podcast, the host Patrick Bet-David asked an interesting question to Tyson. He asked Tyson if he, after reaching the top, felt that other GOATs had similar qualities to him. Tyson replied that the way he looked at it was that some people were “Ordained from God”. He clarified that it is not just for athletes, someone can be “ordained by god to be the greatest businessman”. He said that they don’t have much to do with it other than putting in the work.

The host then asked Tyson if, according to him, it was something like being chosen or called, type of thing. Tyson agreed and then said that Cus “summoned” him. He shared his wonder at the fact that the young him met Cus and his whole life turned around. He said, “You know, I’mma meet this old Italian guy, he made me, he was right…”

Former mobster Michael Franzese also talked about how even those with similar backgrounds to Tyson failed to amount to anything. He attributed success to being a result of determination and hard work. At this point, Tyson shared the importance of a good mentor. He got emotional and said, “A mentor, a great mentor, I had the best mentor in the planet. Nobody could do to me what he could, never, no one. He was the greatest, nobody can make me reach the path”.

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Tyson attributed everything he was now to D’Amato and called him the greatest. What do you think of Cus D’Amato? Do you agree with Tyson? Share your thoughts in the comments.