Cus D’Amato died 38 years ago! On his difficult life’s journey, he raised a young gangster into the youngest champion in boxing history

4. on November 1985, a man who made boxing history forever left the world. Not by his performances in the ring, but by those outside it. Cus D’Amato gave his life to those who needed it. Life didn’t treat him well, but he defied the odds and produced two of boxing’s youngest heavyweight champions.

He had a love of boxing from an early age, but when he couldn’t box, he started training kids

Cus D’Amato came from a poor family of Italian immigrants. The boy grew up in a rough neighborhood in the Bronx, New York, and life certainly didn’t treat him well. His mother died at an early age, his father died in his arms, and his brother was shot by a police officer.

But the hard fate of his life hardened him and the young boy grew into a man who stood firmly on his own two feet. From an early age he had a love of boxing, although he was only an amateur at it himself due to an eye injury in a street fight.

When he couldn’t box, he took up training. He opened his own gym where he trained the poor boys of the neighborhood. For a whole year his gym was open to the street kids, then at the end of each year he threw a Christmas party and all the kids got a present. He gave his life to others.

But most of the good boxers he had were poached by rich executives. He hated the corrupt politics of boxing and, along with his friend and journalist Howard Cosell, disbanded the International Boxing Club of New York when they managed to get its mafia-connected members jailed.

The first champion was raised by Patterson, but Mike Tyson was more than a mere ward

It was then that he began to write the first big story to hit the boxing world. He began training a young man from a poor family named Floyd Patterson in his own gym. He eventually led the petty thief and brawler to a gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

Then, just four years later, he made him the youngest heavyweight champion in history. He was only 21 years old at the time. During his illustrious career, he fought such names as Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali.

Then in 1980, he was brought into the ring by a 14-year-old boy who had been released from a juvenile detention facility. D’Amato found a liking for the wild youngster and moved him into his house. In later years, he adopted the young boxer.

“I didn’t trust anybody, I didn’t trust him originally,” Tyson said in the documentary Watch Me Now – Mike Tyson and Cus D’Amato. “But then Cus D’Amato became the only person I found that trust in.”

“He taught me the most about how to deal with people. I didn’t know how to communicate with them, so I often felt alone. He changed that. It was like a father-son relationship. When he saw me on the first day, he took me into his house, knowing nothing about me,” he recalled of the charismatic man’s warm welcome.

He found meaning in the young boy and predicted his success

D’Amato repaid his trust with the same coin and found in the young boxer the meaning of life. “He’s my boy, he’s with me,” the manager told his charge. “I don’t usually tell him, but today I’m going to tell him. He’s the only reason I’m still alive today. The fact that he’s here, doing what he’s doing, doing it well and getting better, gives me the motivation and interest to stay alive. “

“Because I believe that a man dies because he has no reason to live anymore. But I have that reason, Mike is here and he gives me motivation. And I’m gonna stay alive and see him become successful. Because I’m not leaving until that happens,” he opened his heart to Tyson.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t experienced his greatest successes, even though he has had the lion’s share of them. He taught Tyson not only boxing skills, but more importantly, how to stand outside the ring. He tried to instill in him every day how important it was for a boxer to have discipline and character, and gave him what he didn’t have in life.

“One day he said to me, listen, you have a chance to change your life, your family life. You can be special, become a world champion. You can destroy the world. Do everything I tell you and if it doesn’t work, you can leave, ” D’Amato motivated his inner insecure boy.

Unfortunately, he never lived to see their dream come true, but their story together is an inspiration

Sadly, on November 4, 1985, he left this world at the age of 77 due to pneumonia. Tyson’s world collapsed, yet the spirit of his manager and mentor remained within him, as did his passion for a common goal.

Mike Tyson with Cus D'Amato 🥊 pic.twitter.com/EgRjW3F1gN

— Jorge Alvarado (@FightFreak3437) January 27, 2022

One year and eighteen days later, young Mike made Cus’ dream come true. At the age of just twenty, he took the title of the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion in history from Patterson when he absolutely demolished champion Trevor Berbick in less than two rounds.

Mike Tyson became living proof of how great a manager and person Cus D’Amato was. Tyson went on to defend his title nine times, which later catapulted him into the ranks of the greatest boxing legends of all time. His achievements found their roots in the love, care and wisdom of Cus D’Amato. Their story together serves as an inspiration to more than just professional athletes.

Mike Tyson with Cus D'Amato 🥊 pic.twitter.com/EgRjW3F1gN

— Jorge Alvarado (@FightFreak3437) January 27, 2022

Source: Watch Me Now – Mike Tyson and Cus D’Amato, Twitter/X