View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtSu6qqrMkQ
By the time Tyson grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, Brownsville had become one of Brooklyn's most economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The neighbourhood gained notoriety for gang violence and drug-related crime, which were rampant during Tyson's youth. Tyson faced frequent bullying and violence, particularly because he was a shy, overweight child with a lisp. He wasn’t overweight in the medical sense, but he was teased for being heavier than other kids, with rounder features and a soft build—traits that, combined with his introverted demeanour and lisp, made him a target for bullying. Tyson’s family faced significant poverty, and food was often scarce, yet he mentions in his autobiography, 'Undisputed Truth' , that he would sometimes resort to petty theft to get extra food or snacks.
Tyson’s mother reportedly gave him liquor to help him sleep faster, exposing him to substance use at a young age.
"My mother was a complex woman. She had a lot of men issues, you know. She didn't have a good common decency with men. She and men didn't get along well, except her last boyfriend who stayed with her until she died. She was just one of those ladies who had a lot of men admirers. Being one of the strongest women figures in my life and seeing her be disrespected by these men that she accepted...it didn't really allow me to have functional relationships with women. You'll see her and a guy fighting, she scalds the guy with hot water, and the guy beats her. And then the next day, he buys her a present and they're friends again. That's been my life with the women I've been with.""You know when you're a kid, your mother gives you liquor and marijuana for you, make you think that you're going to sleep or something? My mother was an alcoholic and stuff."Mike Tyson's father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, was known to have been involved in a life of crime and was a reputed figure in the underworld, including associations with pimping. He was absent from Tyson's life. In Tyson's autobiography and interviews, he mentions that Kirkpatrick was in and out of his life and that his absence created a void, but Tyson’s real relationship with him was more symbolic than based on a close, familial bond. Tyson had doubts whether Kirkpattrick was his biological father.
"Well, I don't even feel like talking about it but one day, a guy grabbed me and tried to bring me into a building. I was molested as a child, and it made me be tough for the world I lived in. It doesn't mean I was less of a man because it happened. But I don't like to talk about that, you know. I like to keep that where it was in the past." Tyson has mentioned in interviews that he sometimes fought adult men, which could include the fathers of kids he grew up with. These encounters were not formal matches but rather spontaneous street fights, often fuelled by tensions in the neighbourhood. Teddy Atlas mentioned Mike being 190 lbs at 13 years old sparring with full grown men, they used to lie about his age to get him to fight older guys.
"My first fight, this guy grabbed my pigeon. I asked for it back, but he slapped me around. He must've been 15, and an older guy, I was 9. I said, "please give me my bird back", and he said "fuck you fat nigga", so he ripped my bird's head off. He hit me with the fucking bird. Some other guy who used to bully me said "yo man, fight him back", and um, I fought back. I never fought nobody before. I fought back, and you know? I can fight real good. So after that, everybody would bring the other kids from different neighbourhoods to fight me for money. Hey, listen...I'm not showing off or bragging. I was just a really good fighter." By the time he was sent to Tryon School for Boys, a juvenile detention centre, Tyson was accustomed to defending himself and using his physical strength to survive. It was at Tryon that Tyson’s raw fighting ability caught the attention of Bobby Stewart, a former boxer and counsellor, who introduced Tyson to boxing. Stewart saw Tyson's natural power and potential, and after some training, arranged for Tyson to meet the legendary boxing trainer Cus D'Amato.
13 year old Mike Tyson after his first-ever boxing fight in which he brutally knocked out a 17 year-old.What the actual fuck? 
Despite his early displays of physical power and fighting skill, Tyson was deeply insecure and struggled with self-worth. Tyson himself has spoken openly about feeling weak, shy, and vulnerable as a child, and this insecurity didn’t just vanish with his newfound reputation as a fighter. Even as he became stronger and more capable, that inner self-doubt lingered. Cus instilled in Tyson a sense of purpose, saying things like, “You’re a god,” “You’re unbeatable,” and “You’re going to be a world champion.” These affirmations helped build Tyson’s confidence and taught him to believe in his potential. After Tyson’s mother passed away when he was 16, Cus and his partner, Camille Ewald, became his legal guardians. Tyson moved in with Cus, who took on the role of his mentor and father figure.
"Cus taught me that boxing isn’t just physical. It’s psychological warfare. You learn to dominate your opponent’s mind before the fight even begins."I'm a fucking student of war. I know all the warriors, from Charlemagne, Achilles - the number one warrior of wars he is. From them, Alexander, Napoleon, I know them all. I studied them all. I know the art of fighting, I know the art of war, that's all I've ever studied. That's why I'm so feared, that's why they feared me when I was in the ring. I was an annihilator, that's all I was born for. And now those days are gone, it's empty. I'm nothing. I'm working on being the art of humbleness. That's the reason I'm crying right now - I'm not that person no more. And I miss him. Because sometimes I feel like a little bitch. I don't want that person to come out, because if he does, hell is coming with him."Holy shit.
There's a lot I have left to talk about Iron Mike, like the fact that Cus D'Amato passed away just before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. I want to discuss the shadow of his rape conviction and the time he spent in prison, which drastically changed the course of his life and career.
Then there's the heartbreak of losing his 4 year old daughter which he blames himself for, since she accidently hug herself on the cord of a treadmill. His financial difficulties, despite once being one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Tyson has managed to reinvent himself, transitioning from a feared fighter to a figure focused on personal growth and healing. Like he said, he's working on being the art of humbleness.
He was never the same after Cus died. Prime Mike Tyson isn't a myth; it's real. He could've been champion in any era.
Mike Tyson on watching Roberto Durán fight Sugar Ray Leonard on June 20, 1980.
"This is the moment I knew I wanted to be a fighter. Watching two masters fight. Two fighters waiting for a - just setting up a shot, waiting for a moment, but they can't hit. Both guys are fighting, it's almost like the fighting's staged. It's choreographed. They can't hit each other. They were fighting...they fought fifteen rounds with each other, and it was a war, but none of them had a mark on their face. But it was a hard fight, but none of them had a mark on their face. Just master technicians, you know. I didn't really know if I was going to be a fighter or not, but after watching these guys....I knew.""I'm only fourteen years old when these guys fought, this is 1980. So I'm fourteen years old. And I just thought that (Duran) was the most remarkable person in the world."Mike Tyson on who he wanted to be when he was younger.
"-It's interesting you say, no, I didn't want to be like Muhammed Ali, because where I came from, Muhammed Ali didn't come from the world I came from. I came from filth and scum and sewage. So I wanted to be mean like Sonny Liston and James Dempsey. I wanted to be ferocious. I wanted to kill you with my stare. I wasn't like Muhammed Ali. But Muhammed Ali is not like, he didn't come from the world I came from." Mike Tyson on his rape case. (Desiree Washington turned this man into Naofumi Iwatani. He's commented how he doesn't trust any women including his wife. He lashed out at women who tried to flirt with him at parties from anger and fear of being falsely accused again.)
"-It's just a lying, reptilian monstrous young lady. I hate her guts. She put me in that state where...I don't know, I really wish I did now. But now I really do want to rape her and her fucking mama."Mike Tyson on pain.
"No one's failed more than I did. I deserved all the credit I received. Nobody's seen more than I seen. None of these fighters, none of these athletes. I'm the king of the barbarians...there's no-one who could surpass me in the pain that I've endured.""Nah, it's never in the past."
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