Yes, I know, I stole that title tagline from Bret Hart. But, if you’re as big of a Tyson enthusiast as I am, then you know that title has never been more true about anyone. Now, I wasn’t even a thought in my parents minds when Tyson became the youngest Heavyweight Champion of the world in 1986. How could I be such a Tyson fan when I wasn’t even born during his torrid run to the top of the heavyweight mountain? Well, I have an awesome dad and older brother, that’s how!
From a young age, I was in love with the sport of boxing. I grew up with the likes of Roy Jones Jr, Felix Trinidad, Oscar de La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosely. I was also schooled on the greats. Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Gerry Cooney, Joe Frazier, the list goes on and on and on. Boxing was still a sport then and not the sideshow WWE-like spectacle it’s become. Let me be clear, I KNOW it’s not anything like WWE inside the ring. I’ve been in the ring, there’s nothing orchestrated or fake about it. The sideshow lies in the promoters and behind the scenes clowns who want to come up with every excuse why the top fighters can’t fight each other. I’m talking to you Eddie Hearn and Bob Arum. Wake the hell up! Money this and sponsors that. That to me is one of the many things that separated Tyson among many others from today’s fighters. Tyson would fight anyone, anywhere and I guarantee he’d beat their ass for 5 bucks and a bag of chips. If Mike Tyson wanted to fight you, he was going to fight you one way or another. If he wanted a fight, the fight was made. If someone called him out, the fight was made. He never backed down. He never ducked anyone. That was the appeal of Tyson as a fighter. You want some? Come get you some!
Watching tapes of every single professional Tyson fight there was before I was born, I was instantly enamored by his boxing style. Significantly shorter than most if not all of his opponents, Tyson had to develop and master what’s called an “inside” fighter style. He had to work his jab and right cross in order to get inside of his opponent’s own striking range. Once able to get inside that range, it was poetry in motion. There is actually a video of Mike working the pads with trainer Kevin Rooney that I would make all my fighters watch when I coached. I told them watch the hips and watch the feet, forget about the arms, the hips and legs are where your power comes from. Tyson would chop down his opponents with his ferocious body hooks and in one fluid motion with the same hand, strike the opponents skull with another hook. He dropped the top fighters in the sport repeatedly. He recorded 17 straight knockouts to start his career! It was unheard of, the display of power seen when watching Tyson fight. He ended up with 44 knockouts by the time he called it quits. It was like watching a violent ballet recital. I had and still have never seen someone that was able to put together the combination of power, speed, footwork, agility and accuracy as well as Mike Tyson did in his prime.
Now I know everyone would like me to touch on “what went wrong ” in Mike Tyson’s career and life. Just as I have with other athletes I’ve spoke about, I cannot touch on those subjects. I’m not going to speculate. I’m not going to put words into anyone’s mouth. What happened, happened and not one of us fans can say what was going on in his mind. What I do know is that he dealt with some things that would have made normal men and women walk away and never look back. He lost his longtime trainer, friend and father figure, Cus D’Amato, the year before he won the title for the first time. When you win the title and don’t have the right people in your corner, things can go away in the blink of an eye. Just look at what happened recently with former champion Andy Ruiz. You have it all. It’s easy for us to say “Oh man if I were champion I wouldn’t be like that”. Well you don’t know that at all because there’s only very few men who have donned the title around their waist. Everyone grieves in different ways and when Cus died, Mike didn’t handle it right away and it spiraled for a long time. It led to long layoffs and when he finally did come back, he didn’t look like the same Tyson. That fire I saw in his eyes was no longer there. That look of disdain for his opponent that said he was going to knock your jaw off your head no longer was there. Nonetheless I was his biggest fan rooting for him no matter how hard the people around me were rooting against him. I’ve gotten in many many fights over my support of Mike Tyson. It’s because I love sports. I love the athletic ability and what they do for their profession. I do not care for all of the other stuff because I feel that what we hear in the media is never true. They analyze and critique without even talking to the person. When that person doesn’t want to talk, they bash them even more. When reporters would pressure Tyson he’d call them an asshole and I thought it was great. Athletes don’t have to be nice to you because you write about them or are giving an interview especially if you’re bashing them and talking about personal stuff. That is all I will say about that.
Mike Tyson is not everyone’s cup of tea, but in the ring there is no denying his greatness. He is ranked among the greatest fighters of all time for a reason. He accomplished things not many if any have since. My brother used to train with me and what we would do was spar, lift, run, watch Tyson. I had the honor of meeting Mike Tyson one summer while he was on his boat in Sag Harbor. I was so damn nervous man. This was a hero of mine. But when I walked up, he wasn’t what I was expected. He was courteous and interested in what I wanted to accomplish as a boxer. He talked to me like he was training me. He gave me advice and pointers. He was everything the press said he wasn’t. He signed a pair of gloves for me and I went on my way, the happiest I had been in years. I tell you this because I want you to know that you can’t believe all the crap you read in the media or see on TV. Years later when I was down and out and living with people who had zero morality, those gloves were stolen and I’m still pissed about it a decade later. I’ll get them back one day.
Mike Tyson even after boxing has had a lasting impact on the sport and the people who know his story. If you haven’t checked it out, I HIGHLY recommend watching his Broadway one man dialogue show. It was fantastic and shone a light on things that might open your mind a bit about Iron Mike. He has been through nightmarish tragedy losing a child, he has defeated the substance demons that plagued him for a long time. He is truly an inspiration. Watch the play and hear it for yourself from the man himself. It is sure to blow you away. Mike’s run as a powerhouse in the sport of boxing has also left a lasti g impression on the sport. Whether a grizzled vet or a kid wrapping his hands for the first time, we can all learn from Mike’s regimen, focus and in ring ability. Who better to learn from and model after than the Baddest Man On The Planet?
To The Rack With Mac 