People around the world may not follow boxing, but they know Mike Tyson. They might not know his entire story, yet they know who he is today—and by Tyson’s own admission, that legacy would not exist without one man: Cus D’Amato. Last November, the legendary heavyweight was invited to an event titled ‘Celebration of Cus,’ held on Main Street in Catskill, New York, directly in front of the gym where the legend of Mike Tyson was born. 

The occasion honored his late trainer and gave Mike Tyson the chance to reflect on the formative years that shaped his life and career. Standing in the same place where his journey began, surrounded by hundreds of fans, Tyson revisited the years when Cus D’Amato’s guidance, discipline, and belief transformed him from a troubled teenager into the most famous man in the world.

From a 12-year-old delinquent to a world champion

“I came here when I was 12 years old. I’m from Brownsville, Brooklyn. I was in a reform school, really like a young prison,” Tyson said in a video he shared recently on X, addressing the crowd. He recalled meeting Bobby Stuart, who helped him train in boxing for the very first time in his life. “One day, I got a little better. And one day, I hit his nose. And then I think both his eyes were black,” Tyson added. 

Stuart was angry, Tyson claimed, but decided that the young Mike Tyson needed an upgrade in trainer. “He said, I’m going to take you to somebody else. And he’s going to take you to the next level. Then I met Cus,” Tyson revealed. ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ described Cus D’Amato as a serious man who made him want to please Cus.

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“That was his job, just to create fighters,” Tyson added. “And he told me one time, because one time… I said some stupid stuff. Wow, I can’t believe I’m here, man. I come from such blood. I’m from the sewage. And I’m here. And he said this. He said, I summoned you,” Tyson recalled. He didn’t understand what D’Amato meant back then, but now he does. 

“If you’re sincere, and you ask the universe for what you want, you get it,” Tyson said in his speech. He recalled having very low self-esteem, but D’Amato had helped him with that as well. “Cus would always say, I need you to look in that mirror and fall in love with yourself,” Tyson said. “Because the more you love yourself, the harder it is for you to be being. This man made me the most famous person in the world.”

D’Amato died on November 4, 1985, never seeing Tyson become a world champion. The very next year, Tyson knocked out Trevor Berbick in the second round to become the youngest heavyweight champion of the world. 

Even today, Mike Tyson continues to credit his success to Cus D’Amato. Cus’s partnership with Tyson was so successful that even today’s boxers take lessons from what Cus taught Tyson. 

Anthony Joshua reveals what he learned from D’Amato’s advice to Mike Tyson

Anthony Joshua opened up about a key lesson he took from legendary trainer Cus D’Amato after reflecting on a video featuring D’Amato and a young Mike Tyson. Following a turbulent few years in his career, Joshua admitted he had lost focus, particularly after his back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk. That changed after hearing D’Amato’s blunt assessment of Tyson’s mindset.

“I went off track for a few years. I was doing a lot of stuff, man,” Joshua said. “I was watching a Mike Tyson video with Cus D’Amato, and he goes, ‘Your mind is not on your work, something is distracting you.’” The words struck a chord with the former heavyweight champion, forcing him to reassess his priorities. 

“That’s it! I’ve been too distracted,” Joshua recalled. As a result, he made a decisive move. “I shut down all the businesses and said I’m devoting myself to the fight game again.” Now fully re-committed, Joshua insists his mentality has shifted. “My mind is just filled with pain, hurt, victory, and just wanting to win,” he said. “My mind is fully on my job again.”

Despite his death, it appears Cus D’Amato continues to train people through his legacy. While Tyson may be a legend today, even he knows that might not have been the case without Cus. What did you make of Tyson’s claims?