Tyson was never the same after he got out of jail

[Terry A]

Yes, but he is kind of right: Cus wanted to build a Great Champion; the Youngest HW Champion. That's something to remember in history and Cus wanted to be a part of that. He let Tyson in because of his natural talent and size. He put Teddy on Mike to build a Champion. Mike would get in trouble and Teddy would want to discipline him and Cus would let it go...which he had never done in the past...according to Teddy. Cus was going against his own principles for the sake of having One last "Great" fighter that would make Cus remembered. Cus thought Mike could truly be the Greatest ever as long as Mike stays the course and stays motivated.

This isn't to say Cus didn't care for him, because I do think he did...just like a lot of trainers/mentors can start to build that type of relationship with their young fighters.

You can say that Cus's fighters were his kids.

Torres and Patterson all said Cus cared for them; that's the type of person he was. Rooney was close with him as well and had great respect for him.

I think in the end, Teddy felt betrayed Cus sold out his own values for the sake of this young brute named Mike Tyson. But Cus was desperate at his age.

Boxing great,
Mugwump and Benny Leonard pretty much nailed it on the head. If you read teddy Atlas's book "Atlas", he goes into great detail explaining what mugwump and Benny Leonard just said.

Cus cared for the guys he allowed around him, but because of what they could provide him. Personally, I feel like Cus turned on Atlas because Cus figured he could get more out of keeping Tyson around than Teddy, who demanded Tyson abide by all the rules Cus made that everyone else there had to abide by. Everybody that is, except Tyson.

My bottom line is that as long as Jimmy Jacobs and Kevin Rooney were in the picture, Tyson at least made an effort to be decent. After all his original guys were dead or fired, his new crew (Rory & company) did their very best to pat Mike's back, rub his belly and tell him how great he was. Tyson bought into the lie that he was too great to have to train, and he gave a large part of himself over to the gangster life that he really craved all along.
No more barriers, no more rules....no more greatness.

[Benny Leonard]

Read Donald McRae's DARK TRADE. It talks in depth about Tyson's formative years. How he was lied to and fleeced by Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton. How D'Amato manipulated Tyson's feelings toward women. How Tyson once broke down during an amateur contest - floods of tears - because he feared losing and being sent back to the streets by Cus.

With friends like those it's no wonder he turned into a screwball.

I'll see if I can pick it up but I often wonder where these people get their "inside" information.

There have been people that were in that house with Mike that called out some reporters/writers about lying just to make a story...so I always keep that in mind.

Even Rooney called Atlas out on some things.

People have different memories on things.

For D'Amato and Women: it will be interesting to hear this side...what exactly did he say?

"Don't trust them."

If so, that's basically 90% of what Father's tell their Sons. And if it is so, he should have listened in his case.

I think it is different in regards to Tyson because women were going to try to take advantage of him. People that knew him knew he was a bit emotional and when you are a high-paid athlete, the girls will be on the hunt.

If Cus told Mike that women are a piece of meat and you can slap them around, then that is wrong...but I doubt he said that.

Mike said Cus talked to him about the importance of a Family and that one day he would have a family of his own and that has to be the most important thing in his life...FAMILY.

What was the thing with Jacobs?

The amatuer contest is here:



Tyson feared failure. He feared failure so much it helped him train. He was very insecure and would practice everything to perfection so when he went in the ring, he knew he gave himself the best chance to win. Teddy said something like that.

You have to remember Cus and the rest were there to straighten out these kids, not to kiss their ass...even though they kind of did with Mike.
Anyway, the point is you have to let them have that fear that if they don't straighten themselves out, they will be kicked out on to the street. That's what may have been on Mike's mind if that is what the writer is getting to.
Nothing wrong with that.

Tyson relied on Atlas and then Rooney to give him commands. Tyson said himself that he was better at listening and following instructions than to do it on his own...which is why he struggled to regain his old form after he left Rooney.

I found it interesting that he said after the Bruno fight that "this wasn't Tyson of vintage." So he knew where he was.