Ringside: Round 1: Mike Tyson still a hit with fans
Just ask the thousands — a crowd several times bigger than the next largest one — that turned out this weekend for Iron Mike’s induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota.
Tyson, who dispatched foes with unmatched power, lightning quick speed and ferocity, had to stop part-way through his acceptance speech as he remembered the man who made it all possible.
“All this started when I met Cus (D’Amato),” said Tyson, recalling his elderly friend, manager and mentor who channeled the young boxer’s talent to the top of the heavyweight division. “When I met Cus we talked a little about money. But we wanted to be great fighters.”
Tyson’s path from the mean streets of Brownsville in Brooklyn to Tyron School for Boys near Johnstown to D’Amato’s Catskill gym is well documented. So, too, is the prison time, ear-biting and sometimes maniacal tirades.
But this weekend was all about
boxing and Tyson’s place in it.
Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee summed it up simply.
“Tyson was bang!” he declared. “He gave us a lot of fun.”
Mike Tyson speaks at his International Boxing Hall of Fame induction in Canastota.
CANASTOTA — Six years after his last fight, a quarter century since becoming the youngest heavyweight champ ever, Mike Tyson is still a knockout with fans.Just ask the thousands — a crowd several times bigger than the next largest one — that turned out this weekend for Iron Mike’s induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota.
Tyson, who dispatched foes with unmatched power, lightning quick speed and ferocity, had to stop part-way through his acceptance speech as he remembered the man who made it all possible.
“All this started when I met Cus (D’Amato),” said Tyson, recalling his elderly friend, manager and mentor who channeled the young boxer’s talent to the top of the heavyweight division. “When I met Cus we talked a little about money. But we wanted to be great fighters.”
Tyson’s path from the mean streets of Brownsville in Brooklyn to Tyron School for Boys near Johnstown to D’Amato’s Catskill gym is well documented. So, too, is the prison time, ear-biting and sometimes maniacal tirades.
But this weekend was all about
boxing and Tyson’s place in it.
Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee summed it up simply.
“Tyson was bang!” he declared. “He gave us a lot of fun.”
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