“The pot is shaped long before the clay is touched,” so goes an old saying. If true, then it holds good for boxing as well. For just like a potter, a trainer’s keen eyes can make out where his pupil would end up in years to come. Long after he made a champion out of Floyd Patterson, Cus D’Amato was on the lookout for his next star. And his search finally ended in the mean streets of New York when he chanced upon Mike Tyson.

There are countless stories about Iron Mike. To many fans, anecdotes from before he became the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ continue to regale. So one such most intriguing and perhaps lesser-known chapter from Tyson’s early life unfolded in ESPN writer Mark Kriegel’s latest book, “Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson.” This particular incident took place some 44 years ago, when Tyson was just fourteen years old. Quite early, D’Amato could already see the kind of havoc his powerful student would wreak upon hapless opponents. So he took it upon himself to warn a young fighter who was about to face Iron Mike. Though decades old, the story nonetheless remains a stark reminder of how, just like a potter, in Mike Tyson, Cus D’Amato had already seen the making of a great champion.

A foreshadowing of the era Mike Tyson would define

May 27, 1981. Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Promoted by the Minooka Boxing Club, a fight card featured, among others, a bout between Kevin Rooney, who eventually took over Tyson’s training and saw him through multiple championship wins, and Bobby Plegge. Among the string of amateur fights, one had a fourteen-year-old Mike Tyson facing a much taller and three-year-senior Billy O’Rourke. Tyson went on to win the fight, reportedly by a split decision. But it was not the ring that staged the most thrilling part of the match; rather, it unfolded much before it started!

It seems Cus D’Amato wanted to have a word with Billy O’Rourke. As it usually happens, the parlay began on an encouraging note. “You’re a handsome boy, a good boy,” said D’Amato. But a steely warning followed, “I’m sure you have a good career ahead of you. I just want to keep you from running into a buzzsaw.”

But why? The whole exchange bewildered young O’Rourke, who later retired as a prison officer. So Cus D’Amato continued. “Michael is going to be a world champion. World champion. He’s a killer. A monster. He hurts grown men. Everyone’s afraid to fight him. I just want you to know so you’re prepared. You have to be very careful.”

While accounts differ, one version goes like this: it was supposed to be another easy showcase for young Mike Tyson.

What seemed routine quickly turned into…

But the opening round told a different story. Tyson landed a thunderous left hook that blew through O’Rourke’s guard and sent him airborne. As he drew blood, O’Rourke was forced to fight on with a torn-up face and sixteen stitches’ worth of damage. But the fighter from Kingston, Pennsylvania, wouldn’t fold. He kept coming, round after round, dragging Tyson into deep waters.

Reportedly, Tyson begged to quit between rounds. However, Teddy Atlas, who at the time was a part of Cus D’Amato’s Catskill stable, gave a now-famous speech. It worked. The shaken teenage fighter went back into the ring. The war ended in a split decision for Tyson. But as the fighters embraced, it seemed Iron Mike whispered the truth: “I think you won.”

Irrespective of how it turned out, the fight nonetheless succeeded in foreshadowing what young Mike Tyson would unleash three years later.

Which is your favorite Mike Tyson fight of all time?