Recent Kevin Rooney interview about Mike Tyson

[IronBoxer]

Completely agree with Rooney. He's one of the few trainers who cares about the fighters as opposed to filling his pocket with money. Had Tyson stuck with him, he would have never been sent to jail, would have likely retired undefeated and been proclaimed boxing's GOAT above Ali and others.

[Scott9945]

Completely agree with Rooney. He's one of the few trainers who cares about the fighters as opposed to filling his pocket with money. Had Tyson stuck with him, he would have never been sent to jail, would have likely retired undefeated and been proclaimed boxing's GOAT above Ali and others.

Believe me, Rooney missed the money more than he missed Mike Tyson.

[BKM-2010]

Believe me, Rooney missed the money more than he missed Mike Tyson.

Sure, lets believe you, a man who was there during Tyson's time with the entire Catskills team.

[Scott9945]

Sure, lets believe you, a man who was there during Tyson's time with the entire Catskills team.

Yeah, I'm sure Rooney didn't notice the difference when those six figure paychecks stopped coming in.

[joseph5620]

Believe me, Rooney missed the money more than he missed Mike Tyson.

^^^^ This. Anybody who believes the money wasn't important to Rooney is just being ignorant.

[BKM-2010]

Yeah, I'm sure Rooney didn't notice the difference when those six figure paychecks stopped coming in.

Your assumptions are only facts in your own delusional mind. Obviously Rooney would love the money too as any normal person would(and I wouldn''t be able to understand someone criticizing him for it as they would most likely be hypocrites), but don't act like he didn't actually care about Mike Tyson himself either because of that. So again, the only way you can know for sure is if you knew these people personally and you were there back then as well, which you weren't so have some more class.

[TAC602]

Your assumptions are only facts in your own delusional mind. Obviously Rooney would love the money too as any normal person would(and I wouldn''t be able to understand someone criticizing him for it as they would most likely be hypocrites), but don't act like he didn't actually care about Mike Tyson himself either because of that. So again, the only way you can know for sure is if you knew these people personally and you were there back then as well, which you weren't so have some more class.

Of course, money has a lot to do with it. He also did his job to earn it. Something nobody after him did in the slightest. Rooney had plenty of motivation to keep Tyson on top: money, legacy and the fact that he'd known him personally since his early teens. It's puzzling to me why people speak of Tyson's 'potential' and what he threw away as if he never became a champion, or an undisputed champion at that, with multiple defenses. There's a lot he didn't do, a lot more he could've done, and a lot he lost that affects his legacy. All of that withstanding, he still put together a great career, however brief.

[Kid McCoy]

Yeah, I'm sure Rooney didn't notice the difference when those six figure paychecks stopped coming in.

I wouldn't be surprised. Rooney went through money almost as fast as Tyson did. At one point he owed about $500,000 to a few casinos.

[IronBoxer]

^^^^ This. Anybody who believes the money wasn't important to Rooney is just being ignorant.

Don King really cares about the fighters too...right?

[Scott9945]

Your assumptions are only facts in your own delusional mind. Obviously Rooney would love the money too as any normal person would(and I wouldn''t be able to understand someone criticizing him for it as they would most likely be hypocrites), but don't act like he didn't actually care about Mike Tyson himself either because of that. So again, the only way you can know for sure is if you knew these people personally and you were there back then as well, which you weren't so have some more class.

I never said that was a fact, just an opinion. You can pretend that Rooney wasn't (isn't?) a degenerate gambler and an alcoholic. I know better. And this is a boxing message board which is always going to be full of speculation. That's why nobody has ever sued me.

This is a reminder to me that even after all those years, there are boxing fans and there are Tyson fans.