![]() ![]() He signed on with Don King, a famous boxing promoter. ![]() In 1988, Tyson still had not lost a match, though it seemed that his dominance was perhaps beginning to fade. 1 of that year, he became the first heavyweight boxer to unite the three titles. When he won the International Boxing Federation heavyweight title on Aug. Though Tyson continued to win - defending his title against James Smith in 1987 - and added the World Boxing Association title to his resume. He also became the youngest heavyweight champion in history, at just 20 years and four months. In just the second round, Tyson knocked out Berbick and won the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship. A year after his mentor died, in 1986, Tyson was given the chance they both had worked for: his first championship fight, against Trevor Berbick. His next fight - yet another knockout, his 13th was dedicated to D'Amato's memory.īy the time he was 20, Tyson had a 22-0 record, 21 of those fights won by KO. His training was taken over by Kevin Rooney, D'Amato's assistant, and he continued boxing less than two weeks after D'Amato's death. Later that year, though, Tyson was rocked by the death of D'Amato, who died of pneumonia. The 18-year-old boxer knocked out Mercedes in just one round. Mike Tyson made his professional debut on March 6, 1985, in a fight against Hector Mercedes in Albany, N.Y. Though Tyson failed to make the 1984 Olympic team, D'Amato decided that it was time for him to turn professional, at only 18 years old. He competed in the 19 Junior Olympic Games, winning the gold medal twice - and winning every bout by a knockout. He worked with private tutors after being expelled while he kept working on his boxing, hoping to qualify for the 1984 Olympic trials. That same year, his mother had died of cancer, before Tyson ever really had a chance to get to know her, he said later. Tyson lived and worked with D'Amato on his boxing while attending Catskill High School.īut two years later, Tyson was expelled from the school. Tyson and D'Amato became extremely close as he coached the young boxer and, after Tyson was paroled from Tryon in 1980, D'Amato became his legal guardian. In 1979, Stewart introduced Tyson to Cus D'Amato, a boxing coach who owned a gym in Catskill, N.Y. His schoolwork improved exponentially, and he exceled at the sport, often sneaking out of bed to practice after curfew. In exchange for Tyson's promise of good behavior and schoolwork, Stewart agreed to teach the boy to box. Tyson's counselor at the school was Bob Stewart, an amateur boxing champion. By his 13th birthday, Tyson had been arrested more than 30 times over his petty criminal activities.ĭue to his bad behavior, Tyson was sent to the Tryon School for Boys, a reform school upstate. At 11, Tyson was robbing convenience stores while other gang members held the clerks at gunpoint. ![]() Tyson was bullied as a child, and he joined a gang - the Jolly Stompers - to protect himself and join in the popular street-fighting of the neighborhood. The family struggled financially and eventually moved to Brownsville, Brooklyn, a high-crime area of the city. Kirkpatrick left the family when Tyson was 2, leaving his mother as the sole caregiver for him and his two siblings. Michael Gerard Tyson was born June 30, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York, to Lorna Tyson and Jimmy Kirkpatrick. ![]()
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