The Rise of Mike Tyson, Heavyweight

253 Pages·2014·7.51 MB·English

by  McNeil

The Rise of Mike Tyson,
Heavyweight
ALSOBYWILLIAMF. MCNEIL
ANDFROMMCFARLAND
Black Baseball Out of Season: Pay for Play Outside
of the Negro Leagues(2007; paperback 2012)
Red Sox Roll Call: 200 Memorable Players, 1901–2011(2012)
All-Stars for All Time: A Sabermetric Ranking of the
Major League Best, 1876–2007(2009)
The California Winter League: America’s First Integrated
Professional Baseball League(2002; paperback 2008)
Miracle in Chavez Ravine: The Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988(2008)
Backstop: A History of the Catcher and a Sabermetric
Ranking of 50 All-Time Greats(2006)
The Evolution of Pitching in Major League Baseball(2006)
Cool Papas and Double Duties: The All-Time Greats of the
Negro Leagues(2001; paperback 2005)
Visitors to Ancient America: The Evidence for European and
Asian Presence in America Prior to Columbus(2005)
Gabby Hartnett: The Life and Times of the Cubs’ Greatest Catcher(2004)
The Single-Season Home Run Kings: Ruth, Maris,
McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds, 2d ed.(2003)
Baseball’s Other All-Stars: The Greatest Players from the Negro Leagues,
the Japanese Leagues, the Mexican League, and the Pre–1960 Winter
Leagues in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic(2000)
Ruth, Maris, McGwire and Sosa: Baseball’s Single
Season Home Run Champions(1999)
The King of Swat: An Analysis of Baseball’s Home Run Hitters from the
Major, Minor, Negro and Japanese Leagues(1997)
The Rise of Mike Tyson,
Heavyweight
W F. M N
ILLIAM C EIL
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
McNeil, William.
The rise of Mike Tyson, heavyweight / William F. McNeil.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
♾
ISBN 978-0-7864-9648-8 (softcover : acid free paper)
ISBN 978-1-4766-1802-9 (ebook)
1. Tyson, Mike, 1966– 2. Boxers (Sports)—United States—Biography.
3. African American boxers—Biography. I. Title.
GV1132.T97M37 2014 796.83092—dc23 [B] 2014029922
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2014 William F. McNeil. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: Mike Tyson before his match with Steve Zouski
on March 10, 1986, at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York (Paul Post)
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
To my wife Janet
who was always there to provide me with
support and encouragement and, along the way,
gave me 64 years of beautiful memories.
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank all those people who generously contributed to the production of this
book.
In particular I wish to thank Michael Marton, producer of the timeless and historic
television documentary Watch Me Now, the story of Cus D’Amato and the Catskill Boxing
Club. With Mr. Marton’s permission, I have drawn freely from his material to produce the
flavor of Mike Tyson’s early days in Catskill.
Roger Sala, former business executive and boxing manager, captured Cus D’Amato’s
philosophy of life on an audiocassette, which he graciously allowed me to utilize.
Gunther Hafner, former publisher of the Catskill Daily Mail, permitted me to draw
freely from information on the career of Mike Tyson that appeared in the Daily Mail.
Many other individuals and organizations also permitted me to draw from their knowl-
edge of Mike Tyson and the boxing game, including the Albany Times Union, United Press
International, the Berkshire Eagle, the Times Herald- Record of Middletown, New York,
Dardis McNamee, editor of Capital Region Magazine, People Weeklymagazine, and Home
Box Office, Inc.
Other sources consulted during the research for this book included the Springfield
Republican, the Boston Globe, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated,
Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, World Boxing, Boxing Scene, WNYT Channel 13 (Albany,
N.Y.), WTEN Channel 10 (Albany, N.Y.), ABC- TV Sports, ESPN, WNYW Channel 5
(New York), the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Atlantic City Press, Vanity Fair, Time, GQ, Boxing
Illustrated, and The Greene County News.
In addition, I interviewed numerous people who knew Mike Tyson—childhood friends
from Brooklyn, friends from Catskill, boxing associates, trainers, teachers, and neighbors.
Paul Post, Paul Antonelli, and Teddy Atlas generously provided me with photographs
to enhance the manuscript.
And a special thanks to Sally Talay, formerly of the Catskill Daily Mail, for her coop-
eration during my research.
vi
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Prologue 1
1. From Brownsville to Johnstown 3
2. The Man—Cus D’Amato 12
3. The Birth of a Boxer—1980–1981 25
4. The Quest Begins—1982 47
5. A Taste of Glory—1983 64
6. The Fall and Rise of Mike Tyson—1984 77
7. Assault on the Professional Ranks—1985 99
8. The Road to the Championship—1986 129
9. Everest Conquered—November 22, 1986 157
10. The Unification and Beyond—1987 183
11. The People’s Champion—June 27, 1988 214
Epilogue 230
Appendix: The Complete Amateur and Professional Boxing
Record to June 27, 1988 231
Chapter Notes 235
Bibliography 238
Index 239
vii
This page intentionally left blank
Prologue
“Hey, little fairy boy, you should wear a dress like your sister.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 1986 Boxer of the Year, the
new WBC heavyweight champion of the world, and the youngest man
ever to wear the crown.”
The little fairy boy and the heavyweight champion of the world
have a lot in common. They are the same person. His name is Mike
Tyson.
This is his story.
1