Mike Tyson

Larry Sloman

"In Tyson's ... memoir Undisputed Truth, he recounted the role D'Amato played in his formative years, adopting him at age sixteen after his mother died and shaping him both physically and mentally after Tyson had spent years living in fear and poverty. In Iron Ambition, Tyson elaborates on the life lessons that D'Amato passed down to him, and reflects on how the trainer's words of wisdom continue to resonate with him outside the ring"--Amazon.com.

My Life with Cus D'Amato

Iron Ambition

only when you are at the bottom. Thats when you find your way

Roxan

My quest to regain the heavyweight crown got derailed when I was found guilty of rape and imprisoned in Indianapolis. I've always maintained my innocence, and I present my case in my first book, Undisputed Truth. But being incarcerated for something I didn't do could go two ways. It could have destroyed my will and drive. But thanks to Cus, it did the opposite. This was one of Cus's true tests. And picking myself up from the ashes was what he always taught. Because you've been to prison, because you lost your fight, you lost vOUr wife, does that mean it's time for you to give up life and give up

living? We've got to grab it again, we're going to conquer the world again! And that's what it's all about. Not feeling sorry for yourself, but feeling, "They hurt me and I'm not going to 1let them hurt me again and to make sure of that, I'm going to kill them!" You have to make up some kind of affirmation, because if you don't, you sink into the ground and die.

at she wa ook it. so I put my hand out and she took it. 1ed tha that she was go was going to whoa, whoa," she said, looking at my palm. She started ing. "Wow. You are a rocket, a meteorite. You're going to light ead my palm so laughing. "Wow. You are going to light the world for a short time." I didn't believe her, because she was good-looking. Maybe that W8 the reason I went in there. So I'm thinking this was bullshit but she kept on. 

"Oh boy, are you in trouble. You're going to endure a lot of pain, but you're strong. I can't say that nothing is going to happen to you, you're going to go through a lot but you're going to be all right, baby. You're going to get through it. You've got a long life line, but you are going fora ride. You're a mess," she said, and kept giggling. I never told anybody about that reading. I was too scared to tell Cus, but later I found out that he did a tarot card reading to see if I would be the heavyweight champ of the world. I couldn't tell any of my friends back in Brooklyn because none of them would have be- lieved it. But when I was in jail in 1992, it finally hit me that she was right. When I came out of jail I was a madman, and I'd still go back to jail a couple of times later, but deep in my heart I knew I was going to survive. Even when they had people shooting at me, I knew nothing was going to happen to me. I felt like I was impervious to death. Another thing that got me through the jail sentence was the lit- erature that Cus had me read. Every time Id feel down and lost, I would always go to Edmond Dantès from The Count of Monte Cristo. He didn't go to jail and think of revenge. He prepared for revenge and success, he learned all the arts, and he had a mentor. The only way that you can achieve success in life is if you have somebody you pay nd ou want to make happy. And

When im out of the gutter, ill show you look at me fuck you look at me , thats how i survived by being bad and doing things my way

Impossible is not a word, motivation is the most important thing

be COu wh to isr battle with the IBC to talk about how the word "impossible" shouldn't be in your vocabulary: "You've got to overcome fear, that's how I fought the IBC. The Nor- ris family was worth maybe fifty to five hundred million dollars in those days. They had tremendous power. Now, I was considered crazy to even dream I could oppose them, but I had one advantage: I knew I had the experience and the knowledge and the desire. Without de- sire, you're nothing. People are under the impression you haye to be intelligent, but the most important thing is the motivation, the drive. Getting back to my fight with the IBC, by the early fifties, Norris had it so completely organized that if you didn't get work from him, you didn't get any work. So trying to buck people like Norris was consid- ered impossible. That's why I have no respect for the word impOssi- ble. You must know your mind well enough to know that, given a set of circumstances that are threatening, your mind will find excuses to bo ra avoid and evade, not to accept a confrontation of any kind. "See, but I always say it's like crossing a suspension bridge going from one side to the other. Now when you cross to the other side, knowing what you have to cope with and knowing all that could be dangerous to you, you chop the bridge down so you can't retreat. So when you take one step forward, two steps forward, make sure you chop that back one so you constantly have a chasm there where you can't retreat. Then whatever you have to do, you can only think of one thing: accomplishment. Don't be afraid to put yourself in that position. You'll be amazed at the things you can do when you're forced to. Nobody really knows his capabilities until he tries." You come to Cus weak and he makes you strong. When he makes you strong, you get addicted to that power and you don't want to leave him because he's the source of that strength. My whole life people have said, "How come Cus didn't make another guy like you? It was you, Cus didn't do it." But that's bullshit. I wouldn't have been that guy. Cus was the only guy who could touch me to the core. I don't like saying this shit but if Cus looked at me the wrong way, like I disappointed him, I wished he would have shot me. I would have wanted him to beat me and stop looking at me like that. I wanted to

How to tame fear and use it for your advantage 

get out of the immediate danger, and the natural asset of speed which nature gave it would save it. Now, we, as human beings, in my opin- ion, we tame these qualities, so they are somewhat dormant because we live in a civilized atmosphere, but nevertheless, faced witha situ- ation that intuition tells us danger is present, these natural assets that nature gave us to survive come to the surface and if we don't panic, if we maintain the discipline and the control over it, we can use them and they not only will help us survive the particular in- stance, but continued success will give us a comfort that is so strong and a foundation so powerful that in time we can get to overcome almost anything." e ko "So you explain to your fighter that this feeling of fear, prior to a fight, is normal and healthy and that he shouldn't be apprehensive about it?" Jimmy asked. desl

Every day in every way im getting better, repeat that everyday 

You are a fighting machine, youre the best foghter god has created, 

“Your mind is not your friend, Mike. I hope you know that. You have to fight with your mind, control it, put it in its place. You have to control your emotions. Fatigue in the ring is ninety percent psychological. It’s just the excuse of a man who wants to quit.”

Iron Ambition quotes

Join the club