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Despite Being ‘The Baddest Man on The Planet’, Mike Tyson Was “Scared to Death” to Talk About Girls With His Father Figure: ‘He Had The System of Intimidation’

Published 12/14/2022, 3:30 PM EST

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‘The Baddest Man on The Planet’, former world heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson, is undoubtedly one of the scariest individuals in the world of boxing. However, there was one person who could even make the formidable ‘Iron’ Mike feel intimidated. His former trainer and father figure, Cus D’Amato. In a recent interview, Tyson revealed that he was deathly afraid to talk to D’Amato about girls.

Tyson was a guest on the Tucker Carlson Show hosted by the namesake, Tucker Carlson of Fox News. He was talking about his childhood and his mentors. And Tyson wasted no time in delving into the deep respect, and fear, he had for his former trainer.

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Mike Tyson was scared to talk about girls to Cus D’Amato

There is no denying that Cus D’Amato adored his prodigy, Mike Tyson. Taking that into the task, Carlson asked Tyson if he was ever scared of D’Amato. Tyson responded by saying, “I was always afraid of him. I’m afraid of him now. He made sure you were afraid of him.”

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He then proceeded to detail an incident involving D’Amato. Tyson said, “Listen we were on the third floor right? We were talking crap. Yeah, we were talking about girls and stuff. And then we hear him come up the stairs and everybody stopped talking. Then he comes and says, hey I heard everybody laughing from the first floor. How come now you’re not laughing? I want to know what’s funny, I want to laugh too.”

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However, no one was ready to tell D’Amato what they were talking about. Tyson revealed that D’Amato would have gone ballistic if he had known that they were talking about girls. As he believed that it was detrimental to their quest to become champions. He relayed their thoughts, by saying, “You know the guys were scared to death to say anything.”

Moreover, Tyson also added that D’Amato had a foolproof ‘system of intimidation’.

Tyson and D’Amato

Tyson was at his lowest when he met D’Amato. Growing up in a problematic household and having a rough childhood, Tyson found himself constantly in trouble. He ended up in the Tryon School for Boys after getting arrested.

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This was where Bobby Stewart discovered the young Tyson’s boxing prowess. Notably, Stewart was a juvenile detention center counselor and former boxer. He introduced Tyson to D’Amato, who took him under his wing.

After the demise of Tyson’s mother. D’Amato went on to become his guardian. And further trained the champ for greatness.

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How intimidating was D’Amato? Do let us know in the comments below.

 

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Written by:

Joshua Ben Joseph

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Joshua Ben Joseph is a Boxing writer for EssentiallySports. He started his career as an editorial cartoonist and holds a BFA degree with a specialization in Animated Filmmaking and Screenwriting from AISFM, Hyderabad. An avid lover of boxing history, Joshua believes his writing extends his lifelong adoration for combat sports.
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