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Mike Tyson was the most feared boxer on the planet, a wild animal who literally tore chunks out of his opponents.
And he could have been the greatest of all time if he hadn’t been floored by his 'weakness for women', says his former manager Rory Holloway. Instead, Tyson ended up a convicted rapist.
His lifelong friend has revealed for the first time how his team faced a constant battle to control the fighter’s sex addiction, even employing 24-hour security guards to stop him sneaking out before fights.
In Holloway’s book Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson, he admits that even being jailed for rape didn’t keep Tyson away from women – who queued around the block to see him in prison.
Holloway, a pal of Tyson’s since they were teenagers in New York, says: "I knew there was nobody in the ring who could stop him. The only reason he may not go down as the best is because of his *weakness for women. Every decision he made was around women and sex'.
“I knew it would catch up with him, and it did. I don’t think there is a single person alive who could’ve changed the outcome.”
Tyson was the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion in history at 20 in 1986. But just six years later he was jailed for raping 18 year-old beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room.
Holloway says: “The rape case was inevitable. I’m surprised more girls didn’t make claims against him.”
In jail, Tyson had his pick of women. Holloway says: “All my life I’d fought to keep Mike away from women, but I’d pull up at the prison and the guards would tell me I couldn’t visit till the next day because Mike’s got women lined up to see him.
“He was getting more women in there than he was outside. I ended up sleeping in the damn parking lot.”
Tyson’s dysfunctional relationship with women dates back to his childhood, growing up with no father figure in a broken home in Brooklyn, New York. By the age of 13 he had already been arrested 38 times for petty crimes and fighting.
His lack of a male role model clearly affected him. After the first of his three marriages broke down Tyson even turned to a pimp – Iceberg Slim – for advice on handling women.
Perhaps it was a warped cry for help as Tyson’s own absent dad was a pimp.
The closest thing teenage Tyson had to a father figure was his first coach Cus D’Amato, who rescued him from a life of petty crime and taught him to box.
Yet he never set Tyson straight about women. D’Amato even refused to discipline him after he was caught messing around with his trainer’s 11 year-old niece. Instead he fired the trainer for threatening Tyson.
Holloway says: “Cus handed Mike a baseball bat. He said, ‘You are going to have to beat women off’. Mike realised all he needed was money and fame and he could have all the women he wanted.”
Once the titles and the money started to flow, the women followed, just as D’Amato had predicted.
First it was notes left on his windscreen by local girls, but soon he was stepping out with beauty queens, actresses and models. They loved a bad boy and Tyson was fast earning a reputation as “the baddest man on the planet”.
The cream of the crop was Naomi Campbell. The pair first met at a New York party and, according to Holloway, were immediately smitten. He says: “I was there to keep Mike out of trouble, doing my usual babysitting job, and when I looked over, he was talking to this girl. I had to rub my eyes. It was Naomi Campbell.
“Mike says he’s got to use the restroom. Next thing, Naomi’s following him and I’m outside holding their drinks. Guests are walking up and I’m telling them, ‘Bathroom’s taken’.”
Yet even supermodel Campbell could not hold Tyson’s attention and his infidelity sparked blazing rows between the couple.
Tyson had finally met his match. Holloway says: “Mike would be clubbing and he’d come outside and she’d be standing in six-inch heels on the hood of his car, putting dents in it. One day Naomi came over to the Vegas Hilton – we could hear Mike messing around with girls in the other room. So she gets out on the balcony.
“It was 29 floors up but she went from one balcony to another like Catwoman.”
Tyson hung up his gloves in 2005, and for a decade Holloway maintained his silence out of loyalty.
But he decided to talk after his son was tormented over claims he blew Tyson’s millions. Holloway denies those allegations, and insists Tyson was his own boss and was simply reckless with his money.
The book reveals his ongoing fondness for his friend, but it pulls no punches. Holloway reveals how he saw Tyson’s mental state eroding while he was on trial for rape and even hired a witch doctor.
He says: “The guy convinced Mike to pour a bucket of milk all over himself. Then he tells Mike to write down the names of the prosecutors on a piece of paper.
“While he’s staring at them in court, he’s supposed to eat the list. You could see Mike chewing on this damn wad like a madman.”
Holloway says prison changed Tyson. Though he had always been “unstable” his behaviour became increasingly erratic after three years behind bars. At New York Zoo he offered keepers £6,500 to let him fight a gorilla.
He allowed pet tigers to roam free at his Cleveland home. One chased a neighbour’s horse, scaring it to death.
Who would have won in a head-to-head at their prime?
TYSON
ALI
Tyson also developed an obsession with guns. Holloway says: “I was scared to death he was going to shoot himself.”
His erratic behaviour took a toll on his boxing. Holloway found it increasingly hard to make him prepare for fights.
But it was after Tyson bit a chunk from opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear in 1997, that his career went into terminal decline. Holloway says: “I saw my friend turn into a different human being. The fans turned on him – it affected him. He was in despair and became more aggressive and angry.
“After the fight this kid came up to the window, and said, ‘You’re a punk’. Mike jumped out the moving car. I had to chase him to stop him hitting this poor kid.
“Mike was tired of boxing. Sometimes we had closed gyms before a fight, so the media didn’t know he had disappeared, probably on a mission to get women. That’s the frustrating thing. We only saw the tip of the iceberg of what Mike is capable of. If he hadn’t had the distractions he could have been the best of all time.
“He had the charisma, the physical ability and the talent to put him in the same category as Muhammad Ali.”
Instead Tyson’s reputation continues to hinge on his exploits outside the ring.
He was jailed for nine months in 1999 for assaulting motorists and was declared bankrupt in 2003. He became addicted to drink and drugs and claims at times he fought while high. But in spite of *everything, Holloway insists Tyson has a good heart.
He says: “He was very generous. Whether it was $5 or $500,000, he gave it to anyone with a sob story. He took care of family and friends, paid mortgages and bills. But somewhere along the way he got lost.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing...tyson-5128752?
Do you agree with his friend?
And he could have been the greatest of all time if he hadn’t been floored by his 'weakness for women', says his former manager Rory Holloway. Instead, Tyson ended up a convicted rapist.
His lifelong friend has revealed for the first time how his team faced a constant battle to control the fighter’s sex addiction, even employing 24-hour security guards to stop him sneaking out before fights.
In Holloway’s book Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson, he admits that even being jailed for rape didn’t keep Tyson away from women – who queued around the block to see him in prison.
Holloway, a pal of Tyson’s since they were teenagers in New York, says: "I knew there was nobody in the ring who could stop him. The only reason he may not go down as the best is because of his *weakness for women. Every decision he made was around women and sex'.
“I knew it would catch up with him, and it did. I don’t think there is a single person alive who could’ve changed the outcome.”
Tyson was the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion in history at 20 in 1986. But just six years later he was jailed for raping 18 year-old beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room.
Holloway says: “The rape case was inevitable. I’m surprised more girls didn’t make claims against him.”
In jail, Tyson had his pick of women. Holloway says: “All my life I’d fought to keep Mike away from women, but I’d pull up at the prison and the guards would tell me I couldn’t visit till the next day because Mike’s got women lined up to see him.
“He was getting more women in there than he was outside. I ended up sleeping in the damn parking lot.”
Tyson’s dysfunctional relationship with women dates back to his childhood, growing up with no father figure in a broken home in Brooklyn, New York. By the age of 13 he had already been arrested 38 times for petty crimes and fighting.
His lack of a male role model clearly affected him. After the first of his three marriages broke down Tyson even turned to a pimp – Iceberg Slim – for advice on handling women.
Perhaps it was a warped cry for help as Tyson’s own absent dad was a pimp.
The closest thing teenage Tyson had to a father figure was his first coach Cus D’Amato, who rescued him from a life of petty crime and taught him to box.
Yet he never set Tyson straight about women. D’Amato even refused to discipline him after he was caught messing around with his trainer’s 11 year-old niece. Instead he fired the trainer for threatening Tyson.
Holloway says: “Cus handed Mike a baseball bat. He said, ‘You are going to have to beat women off’. Mike realised all he needed was money and fame and he could have all the women he wanted.”
Once the titles and the money started to flow, the women followed, just as D’Amato had predicted.
First it was notes left on his windscreen by local girls, but soon he was stepping out with beauty queens, actresses and models. They loved a bad boy and Tyson was fast earning a reputation as “the baddest man on the planet”.
The cream of the crop was Naomi Campbell. The pair first met at a New York party and, according to Holloway, were immediately smitten. He says: “I was there to keep Mike out of trouble, doing my usual babysitting job, and when I looked over, he was talking to this girl. I had to rub my eyes. It was Naomi Campbell.
“Mike says he’s got to use the restroom. Next thing, Naomi’s following him and I’m outside holding their drinks. Guests are walking up and I’m telling them, ‘Bathroom’s taken’.”
Yet even supermodel Campbell could not hold Tyson’s attention and his infidelity sparked blazing rows between the couple.
Tyson had finally met his match. Holloway says: “Mike would be clubbing and he’d come outside and she’d be standing in six-inch heels on the hood of his car, putting dents in it. One day Naomi came over to the Vegas Hilton – we could hear Mike messing around with girls in the other room. So she gets out on the balcony.
“It was 29 floors up but she went from one balcony to another like Catwoman.”
Tyson hung up his gloves in 2005, and for a decade Holloway maintained his silence out of loyalty.
But he decided to talk after his son was tormented over claims he blew Tyson’s millions. Holloway denies those allegations, and insists Tyson was his own boss and was simply reckless with his money.
The book reveals his ongoing fondness for his friend, but it pulls no punches. Holloway reveals how he saw Tyson’s mental state eroding while he was on trial for rape and even hired a witch doctor.
He says: “The guy convinced Mike to pour a bucket of milk all over himself. Then he tells Mike to write down the names of the prosecutors on a piece of paper.
“While he’s staring at them in court, he’s supposed to eat the list. You could see Mike chewing on this damn wad like a madman.”
Holloway says prison changed Tyson. Though he had always been “unstable” his behaviour became increasingly erratic after three years behind bars. At New York Zoo he offered keepers £6,500 to let him fight a gorilla.
He allowed pet tigers to roam free at his Cleveland home. One chased a neighbour’s horse, scaring it to death.
Who would have won in a head-to-head at their prime?
TYSON
ALI
Tyson also developed an obsession with guns. Holloway says: “I was scared to death he was going to shoot himself.”
His erratic behaviour took a toll on his boxing. Holloway found it increasingly hard to make him prepare for fights.
But it was after Tyson bit a chunk from opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear in 1997, that his career went into terminal decline. Holloway says: “I saw my friend turn into a different human being. The fans turned on him – it affected him. He was in despair and became more aggressive and angry.
“After the fight this kid came up to the window, and said, ‘You’re a punk’. Mike jumped out the moving car. I had to chase him to stop him hitting this poor kid.
“Mike was tired of boxing. Sometimes we had closed gyms before a fight, so the media didn’t know he had disappeared, probably on a mission to get women. That’s the frustrating thing. We only saw the tip of the iceberg of what Mike is capable of. If he hadn’t had the distractions he could have been the best of all time.
“He had the charisma, the physical ability and the talent to put him in the same category as Muhammad Ali.”
Instead Tyson’s reputation continues to hinge on his exploits outside the ring.
He was jailed for nine months in 1999 for assaulting motorists and was declared bankrupt in 2003. He became addicted to drink and drugs and claims at times he fought while high. But in spite of *everything, Holloway insists Tyson has a good heart.
He says: “He was very generous. Whether it was $5 or $500,000, he gave it to anyone with a sob story. He took care of family and friends, paid mortgages and bills. But somewhere along the way he got lost.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing...tyson-5128752?
Do you agree with his friend?
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