Mike Tyson: Mother's death was career turning point
Mike Tyson was once known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet," but he says that might not have ever happened if he had experienced a normal childhood.
Tyson's rise from New York street tough to the youngest heavyweight champion ever by age 20 has been well documented. And the man who went 50-6-2 with 44 knockouts across 58 professional fights says it was the death of his mother that made it all possible.
"One of the best things that ever happened to me is that my mother died," Tyson said in a conversation with Shannon Sharpe on the "Club Shay Shay Podcast." "My mother would have babied me. There is no way I would have ever got into a street fight, no way I ever would have learned to stand up for myself."
How Mike Tyson became heavyweight champ
Sharpe pointed out, though, that whether his mother would have been alive or not, Tyson still would have encountered the same people who would have forced him to defend himself. Indeed, Tyson had already been arrested numerous times by the time he was 14, the age at which he said he knew he was capable of becoming heavyweight champion.
But Tyson said, "It was ordained by God for me to deal with that. I don't navigate my life. You think I navigate my life to being the heavyweight champion? No, I don't do that. That's God."
Tyson's mother died when he was 16, leaving him in the custody of boxing trainer Cus D'Amato, who became his legal guardian. Tyson said D'Amato was the one who drove him to be great.
Mike Tyson throws a punch against Reggie Gross during their fight at Madison Square Garden, on June 13, 1986 in New York, New York. Tyson won by TKO. (Photo by: The Ring Magazine via Getty Images)
"I had a great mentor, and he always told me [I could be great] — he gave me the affirmation," Tyson said.
Tyson would grow to become one of the most intimidating and dominant boxers ever. He won his first 19 pro fights by knockout — 12 of them coming in the first round — and was the undisputed heavyweight champ from 1987 to 1990.
But he said that one of his mistakes was losing his focus and his intensity.
"Just not training, not taking it serious anymore," Tyson said of his greatest flaw. "… I was beating guys so easy, I didn't have to train. And those are bad habits."
However, Tyson also said that losing makes a fighter better.
"You become a better champion, you become a better fighter [when you lose]," he said. "Life is about loss. As time goes on, we lose everything. We lose our hair, we lose our teeth and eventually, we lose our life. Life is all about loss."
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