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"No matter how much time has transpired, fight fans and media alike will forever link the names of Kevin Rooney and Mike Tyson. Beginning in 1982, Rooney coached Tyson during his amateur career, being the ears, eyes and physical entity for the then living legend, Cus D'Amato - the savior of a 14 year old Brownsville street thug and creator of the most destructivU£HDM‡½gr the heavyweight division has ever known... 'Iron' Mike. Øûg{÷ÔõD
After the death of D'Amato in 1985, Rooney effectively steered the ship into port by taking over where D'Amato left off. He led Tyson to an undefeated professional record of 35 wins, with 31 knockouts - beating Trevor Berbick astoundingly for the WBC title in 1986. The following year, Tyson beat James 'Bonecrusher' Smith for the WBA title and Tony Tucker for the IBF championship.
Defenses against Pinklon Thomas, Tyrell Biggs, Larry Holmes and Michael Spinks cemented Tyson's legacy as the most devastating and intriguing heavyweight fighter since Muhammad Ali.
The following year, Rooney was fired right after Tyson's fight with Spinks in 1988 and the two have been estranged ever since. Their separation has seen the decline in Tyson's skills and motivation... with the once 'Baddest Man on the Planet' suddenly equipped with only 3 rounds of energy, no D'Amato defense and a prayer for a one punch knockout.
Tyson's demise has prompted the staunchest 'Iron' Mike fan to proclaim 'If Tyson would only got back with Rooney...' Yet, there appears to be no hope for a re-union to ever take place again, even though Tyson continues to bounce around from trainer to trainer. The wayward son, gone astray of the D'Amato style and principle.
Nevertheless, people will always consider Rooney to be the official adjudicator of Tyson's ring performances. ********* spoke to Rooney about Tyson's upcoming fight with Kevin McBride this Saturday on Showtime PPV"...Lisa Scott
What do you think of Kevin McBride as an opponent for Tyson?
I was at McBride's last fight against Kevin Montiy in March at Foxwoods. It wasn't a bad fight and it was kind of entertaining. I'm betting that McBride is training verrrry hard for this. He seems like he's a tough Irishman who'll hang in there and take a beating. But... my bet is that Mike will take him out in the first round. McBride comes right at you. He's not a boxer. He'll just stand there and jab and that's perfect for Mike. Hopefully, Mike is training just as hard and has the desire to win. But Mike needs to move his head more! He moves it a little bit, but then forgets about it. He also doesn't throw combinations anymore. Instead, he looks to land one big punch and that's not good.
McBride is 7 inches taller than Tyson, has an 11 inch reach advantage and is 8 years younger. Could this still be a factor against Tyson?The height could be a problem. If Mike stays on the outside and lets himself get peppered with jabs, he's gonna have a problem. Mike has to be aggressive and get inside McBride's jab. Once he's inside, he should rip a hook to the body and then an uppercut or a hook to the head. Another thing, Mike doesn't use his jab anymore. When I was coaching Mike, I always told him to 'get in there and use your jab.' Mike had a nice hard jab and a lot of his taller opponents (like Biggs, Holmes and Spinks) never expected it. It was a secret weapon.
You and Cus worked on the mental side of Tyson - giving him tremendous confidence against his opponents. How crucial was that for Tyson prior to a fight? It was the number one thing! Boxing is 80% mental and 20% physical. Every fighter has fear and doubts. But Cus always said that 'fear feeds the fuel.' And once you learn to control the fear, then the fear becomes your friend and will help you. If you let the fear take over, you freeze up and you're gonna have a problem.
Tyson has stated publicly that he went into a deep depression while recuperating from knee surgery and had never experienced so much pain before in his life. After such an injury, many athletes become gun shy and overly cautious about giving 100% - for fear of re-injuring themselves. Do you think Tyson's injury will have a lingering effect on him?It could have an effect. But personally... I don't think it will. The Mike Tyson that I knew, wouldn't let something like that get to him.
After fighting for 4 rigorous rounds with the knee injury, Tyson recently acknowledged that, as he sat on the canvas receiving the 10 count he thought: "F*** this, I'm in too much pain." Throughout history, many fighters have fought with similar injuries. Does the fact that what Tyson did send out some sort of signal?
No. Absolutely not. If it were a shoulder injury, it would have been different. When your knee is torn... that hurts like hell! You can't throw your punches the same way anymore and you have to put all your weight on your other foot and that makes you off balance. There was no point in him continuing. It doesn't make him a quitter. The fact that he injured himself in the first round and fought for three more rounds... shows that he had heart. Mike has always had heart. He probably made the injury worse by doing what he did.
You are the last remaining practitioner of the Cus D'Amato style - a style that fit perfectly for Tyson. Ever since you and he split 17 years ago, Mike has not been the same fighter and has been bouncing around from trainer to trainer. What transpired between you two that has become so irreparable? What happened? What happened was, when Mike got with Don King, King got into Mike's head and filled his brain with bull****. Soon after, Mike fired Bill (Cayton). Then, I got fired. So... I sued him in 1989 for breach of an oral contract. Then, Mike said 'Kevin Rooney will never work my corner again.' Look. I had an agreement with Mike and he admitted it in court. I was to be his trainer for the remainder of his pro career. It was never really about the money because the government grabbed most of it from me anyway! It was just the principle. If someone gives me their word and tells me they're gonna do something, I expect it to happen. I've never been a guy who'll say: 'Wait a minute, lets put this in writing.' I'm old school and Cus was the same way. Mike and I have had a long history together and accomplished a lot in this sport and that can never be erased. Mike was wrong for what he did to me. But, I still love him and I wish him well. I'll never have a bad word to say about him. A while back, someone told me that Mike came to Catskill looking for me. What he wanted, I have no idea.
During training for the Spinks fight, was there any friction between you and Mike that would have indicated that you were going to be fired?No! Everything was smooth. It was a regular training camp! I was completely blind sided and stunned when they fired me. It felt like I had been stabbed in the back.
After 17 years, do you think Mike is still angered by your lawsuit against him?
I have no idea. I don't know what Mike thinks. Mike is still surrounded by people who've spread rumors about me. Vicious rumors that have gotten back to me like... I'm a big drunk... I drink all day long -- I never do anything. It's all bull****! Of course I'll have a couple of beers - just like everyone else! But when it comes time to take care of business, I take care of business! If you've got idle time on your hands, you indulge. And, Mike of all people... KNOWS this.
In fact, before Cus died, he told Bill and Jimmy (Jacobs): 'Keep Mike active. When he's not in the gym and not working out hard, he's going to get into trouble.' After Mike won the title, we had him fighting every three months and he was always in shape. When Jimmy died, Bill had a plan to keep Mike busy by doing a World Tour. It was going to be five fights around the world, with the first fight being in England against Frank Bruno and the last one here in the U.S. with Holyfield. But, that got all screwed up when Mike fired Bill. After that, King had Mike fighting once or twice a year... and looked what happened.
Listen. Boxing is a backstabbing business. I'm your friend today and your enemy tomorrow. Everyone is jealous of everyone else and everything is political - especially when you have a fighter that can command millions of dollars a fight. People will do whatever it takes to muscle in on that. That's when the rumors start flying and things get dirty. Another rumor about me was: 'Kevin Rooney is his own man and won't listen to anyone.' Excuse me?! I'm the head trainer and I know what it takes to get my fighter ready. You're the manager? Good, then you do YOUR job.... and I'll do MY job. Then it's up to Mike to go out there and make us both look good. Boxing is a tough racket. But I'm still in the game and I've got some fighters with great potential. However, I'm still looking for a heavyweight. (Laughing)
What is in bold is the Interviewer Lisa Scott
After the death of D'Amato in 1985, Rooney effectively steered the ship into port by taking over where D'Amato left off. He led Tyson to an undefeated professional record of 35 wins, with 31 knockouts - beating Trevor Berbick astoundingly for the WBC title in 1986. The following year, Tyson beat James 'Bonecrusher' Smith for the WBA title and Tony Tucker for the IBF championship.
Defenses against Pinklon Thomas, Tyrell Biggs, Larry Holmes and Michael Spinks cemented Tyson's legacy as the most devastating and intriguing heavyweight fighter since Muhammad Ali.
The following year, Rooney was fired right after Tyson's fight with Spinks in 1988 and the two have been estranged ever since. Their separation has seen the decline in Tyson's skills and motivation... with the once 'Baddest Man on the Planet' suddenly equipped with only 3 rounds of energy, no D'Amato defense and a prayer for a one punch knockout.
Tyson's demise has prompted the staunchest 'Iron' Mike fan to proclaim 'If Tyson would only got back with Rooney...' Yet, there appears to be no hope for a re-union to ever take place again, even though Tyson continues to bounce around from trainer to trainer. The wayward son, gone astray of the D'Amato style and principle.
Nevertheless, people will always consider Rooney to be the official adjudicator of Tyson's ring performances. ********* spoke to Rooney about Tyson's upcoming fight with Kevin McBride this Saturday on Showtime PPV"...Lisa Scott
What do you think of Kevin McBride as an opponent for Tyson?
I was at McBride's last fight against Kevin Montiy in March at Foxwoods. It wasn't a bad fight and it was kind of entertaining. I'm betting that McBride is training verrrry hard for this. He seems like he's a tough Irishman who'll hang in there and take a beating. But... my bet is that Mike will take him out in the first round. McBride comes right at you. He's not a boxer. He'll just stand there and jab and that's perfect for Mike. Hopefully, Mike is training just as hard and has the desire to win. But Mike needs to move his head more! He moves it a little bit, but then forgets about it. He also doesn't throw combinations anymore. Instead, he looks to land one big punch and that's not good.
McBride is 7 inches taller than Tyson, has an 11 inch reach advantage and is 8 years younger. Could this still be a factor against Tyson?The height could be a problem. If Mike stays on the outside and lets himself get peppered with jabs, he's gonna have a problem. Mike has to be aggressive and get inside McBride's jab. Once he's inside, he should rip a hook to the body and then an uppercut or a hook to the head. Another thing, Mike doesn't use his jab anymore. When I was coaching Mike, I always told him to 'get in there and use your jab.' Mike had a nice hard jab and a lot of his taller opponents (like Biggs, Holmes and Spinks) never expected it. It was a secret weapon.
You and Cus worked on the mental side of Tyson - giving him tremendous confidence against his opponents. How crucial was that for Tyson prior to a fight? It was the number one thing! Boxing is 80% mental and 20% physical. Every fighter has fear and doubts. But Cus always said that 'fear feeds the fuel.' And once you learn to control the fear, then the fear becomes your friend and will help you. If you let the fear take over, you freeze up and you're gonna have a problem.
Tyson has stated publicly that he went into a deep depression while recuperating from knee surgery and had never experienced so much pain before in his life. After such an injury, many athletes become gun shy and overly cautious about giving 100% - for fear of re-injuring themselves. Do you think Tyson's injury will have a lingering effect on him?It could have an effect. But personally... I don't think it will. The Mike Tyson that I knew, wouldn't let something like that get to him.
After fighting for 4 rigorous rounds with the knee injury, Tyson recently acknowledged that, as he sat on the canvas receiving the 10 count he thought: "F*** this, I'm in too much pain." Throughout history, many fighters have fought with similar injuries. Does the fact that what Tyson did send out some sort of signal?
No. Absolutely not. If it were a shoulder injury, it would have been different. When your knee is torn... that hurts like hell! You can't throw your punches the same way anymore and you have to put all your weight on your other foot and that makes you off balance. There was no point in him continuing. It doesn't make him a quitter. The fact that he injured himself in the first round and fought for three more rounds... shows that he had heart. Mike has always had heart. He probably made the injury worse by doing what he did.
You are the last remaining practitioner of the Cus D'Amato style - a style that fit perfectly for Tyson. Ever since you and he split 17 years ago, Mike has not been the same fighter and has been bouncing around from trainer to trainer. What transpired between you two that has become so irreparable? What happened? What happened was, when Mike got with Don King, King got into Mike's head and filled his brain with bull****. Soon after, Mike fired Bill (Cayton). Then, I got fired. So... I sued him in 1989 for breach of an oral contract. Then, Mike said 'Kevin Rooney will never work my corner again.' Look. I had an agreement with Mike and he admitted it in court. I was to be his trainer for the remainder of his pro career. It was never really about the money because the government grabbed most of it from me anyway! It was just the principle. If someone gives me their word and tells me they're gonna do something, I expect it to happen. I've never been a guy who'll say: 'Wait a minute, lets put this in writing.' I'm old school and Cus was the same way. Mike and I have had a long history together and accomplished a lot in this sport and that can never be erased. Mike was wrong for what he did to me. But, I still love him and I wish him well. I'll never have a bad word to say about him. A while back, someone told me that Mike came to Catskill looking for me. What he wanted, I have no idea.
During training for the Spinks fight, was there any friction between you and Mike that would have indicated that you were going to be fired?No! Everything was smooth. It was a regular training camp! I was completely blind sided and stunned when they fired me. It felt like I had been stabbed in the back.
After 17 years, do you think Mike is still angered by your lawsuit against him?
I have no idea. I don't know what Mike thinks. Mike is still surrounded by people who've spread rumors about me. Vicious rumors that have gotten back to me like... I'm a big drunk... I drink all day long -- I never do anything. It's all bull****! Of course I'll have a couple of beers - just like everyone else! But when it comes time to take care of business, I take care of business! If you've got idle time on your hands, you indulge. And, Mike of all people... KNOWS this.
In fact, before Cus died, he told Bill and Jimmy (Jacobs): 'Keep Mike active. When he's not in the gym and not working out hard, he's going to get into trouble.' After Mike won the title, we had him fighting every three months and he was always in shape. When Jimmy died, Bill had a plan to keep Mike busy by doing a World Tour. It was going to be five fights around the world, with the first fight being in England against Frank Bruno and the last one here in the U.S. with Holyfield. But, that got all screwed up when Mike fired Bill. After that, King had Mike fighting once or twice a year... and looked what happened.
Listen. Boxing is a backstabbing business. I'm your friend today and your enemy tomorrow. Everyone is jealous of everyone else and everything is political - especially when you have a fighter that can command millions of dollars a fight. People will do whatever it takes to muscle in on that. That's when the rumors start flying and things get dirty. Another rumor about me was: 'Kevin Rooney is his own man and won't listen to anyone.' Excuse me?! I'm the head trainer and I know what it takes to get my fighter ready. You're the manager? Good, then you do YOUR job.... and I'll do MY job. Then it's up to Mike to go out there and make us both look good. Boxing is a tough racket. But I'm still in the game and I've got some fighters with great potential. However, I'm still looking for a heavyweight. (Laughing)
What is in bold is the Interviewer Lisa Scott
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