WATCH: Mike Tyson opens up about how brutal childhood turned him into a champion
Luke Gentile
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Former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson said it was the trauma of his childhood that made him a champion.
Raised in a dangerous part of New York City and tried in hardship, Tyson found himself alone.
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His mother was promiscuous, his biological father was not a figure in his life, and the future world heavyweight champion got into his first fight after an older boy ripped the head off one of his beloved pigeons.
This life led a young Tyson to turn to crime, and he soon arrived at the Tryon Residential Center for Boys, where he met his first trainer, Bobby Stewart.
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“When I came there, I was in another facility on that campus,” Tyson said in an interview released this week. “And I believe I … I don’t want to say I stabbed somebody, but I had an altercation with somebody.”
“So I came when he met me I had handcuffs, and I’m rearrested, and I was a mess. And so when the guys were talking to me … cause they said, ‘Well, you’re not a bad guy because you did that. … We have ex-fighter Bobby Stewart, you need to meet him. He’ll probably get you in shape.’ And I said, ‘Well, I would love to meet him, I met Muhammad Ali, I’ve seen Muhammad Ali.'”
Stewart began Tyson’s education in the sweet science of boxing and instilled in the young man a sense of discipline and academic achievement, the former champion said.
“This guy knocks on my door. ‘I heard you wanna talk, what do you want?’ I said I want to be a fighter,” Tyson said.
“‘Everybody wants to be a fighter,'” Stewart replied, according to Tyson. “‘You show me you want to be a fighter. Let’s just see how your conduct is.’ And I went from being a really jerky, nasty guy to becoming an A-student.”
However, perhaps the greatest thing Stewart did for Tyson was introduce him to legendary trainer Cus D’Amato.
D’Amato would go on to become Tyson’s mentor and father figure.
Under D’Amato, Tyson would master the peek-a-boo style and become the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
However, none of that would have happened if Tyson had not been born into a crucible, he said, and he is proud of that.
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“My adversity inspired me to be more than I truly was,” he said.