Here are lessons that we can all learn from Iron Mike Tyson!
5 - Stick up for yourself Believe it or not Mike Tyson actually wasn’t
exactly born with the greatest genetics, as he was a little fat kid when he was very young.
He was tipping the scales at nearly 200 pounds as a 10 year old, and to make things even
worse, Tyson wore glasses. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, he also had a high pitched voice and
spoke with a lisp. Could things have been any worse? Tyson’s family lived in Brooklyn,
in Brownsville, a section that was known as a high-crime neighborhood. I’m sure you
can imagine it wasn’t exactly fun and games when Tyson was growing up, as he was picked
on and robbed all the time. However, one day things done changed, to quote
Biggie. Tyson’s very first fight was with an older and bigger kid named Gary. Gary had
grabbed and held one of Tyson’s pet pigeons hostage. Tyson told him to give him his pigeon
back, and Gary pulled the head off Tyson's pigeon and threw it at Tyson! That’s….just
insane. And that’s when the switch flipped in Tyson. Tyson said that he had always been
too scared to fight anyone before. He said, “F*ck it” and started swinging on Gary,
which completely shocked Tyson’s friends, even though they themselves were urging Tyson
to fight. Tyson didn’t know what he was doing, but according to him he threw some
wild punches, one connected, and dude went down.
Tyson said he started skipping because quote, “it just seemed like the fly thing to do”.
He had practically the whole block watching his glory, and everybody started cheering
for Tyson. Tyson said that It was an incredible feeling even though his heart was beating
out of his chest. According to Tyson, he started getting a whole
new level of respect around his neighborhood. Tyson started fighting a lot. Guys would bet
money on Tyson, and Tyson bet on himself too, which earned Tyson quite a reputation around
Brooklyn. Tyson began having a reputation that he would fight anyone any time, even
grown men.
He decided to start getting revenge for the beatings he had taken from bullies. He’d
be walking with some friends, and he might see one of the guys who had beaten him up
and bullied him years earlier. He would drag go as far as dragging dudes out of a store
and start pummeling their a#s. Now I’m not telling you guys to go start
Fight Club around you. That’s not what I’m saying at all. But what we CAN learn from
Iron Mike is that although you don’t need to pick every fight, you also can’t back
down from every fight either, whether it’s literally or figuratively. You have to stick
up for yourself from time to time, or else you’ll always be chosen as a weak target.
To finish this early story on Tyson, ever since he had a taste of power he started getting
into trouble for the wrong reasons. By the age of 13, he had been arrested 38 times.
He ended up at the Tryon School for Boys in Johnstown, New York. Tyson's boxing ability
was discovered there by Bobby Stewart, a juvenile detention center counselor and former boxer.
Stewart trained him for a few months before eventually introducing him to legendary trainer
Cus D'Amato.
4 - Don’t buy into your own hype Buster Douglas was the number 7 ranked heavyweight
boxer by The Ring back in 1990. Certainly no slouch, but not exactly a boxer with a
feared reputation or impressive pedigree. Leading up to the title fight with Tyson back
in 1990, he had a string of 6 straight wins which earned him the shot against Tyson for
a few heavyweight title belts. To put things in perspective, Tyson at the
time was pretty much the baddest dude on the planet. He was considered the pound for pound
best boxer in the world, which is a rarity for a heavyweight. Iron Mike was undefeated
at the time, and he had never been taken beyond the 5th round in his 37 previous professional
fights. Douglas was basically never taken seriously, as he was just considered a tuneup
for Tyson before an eventual meeting with Evander Holyfield. No Vegas sportsbooks would
even take bets for the fight, except for the Mirage who put Douglas at a 42 to 1 underdog.
I’m sure you guys already know what happened next. In what’s one of the most epic upsets
in sports history, Buster Douglas knocked out Tyson and shattered his mystique of being
the baddest dude on the planet. Buster Douglas was dealing with the recent
death of his mother, a kidney ailment to his baby mama, and just for good measure, he also
had the flu. Before the fight a reporter asked Tyson if there was any chance Douglas could
beat him. Tyson replied quite hilariously quote "Perhaps if I chopped off my arms."
However, Tyson had a few things that were going against him at the time. His relationship
with ex-wife Robin Givens was falling apart. He was having financial battles with his manager
Bill Cayton and his promoter Don King. He had also fired his longtime trainer Kevin
Rooney, who helped Tyson develop his signature peekaboo fighting style. Because of all that
was going on in his personal life, Tyson didn’t take his opponent nor his training seriously.
He bought into his own hype and thought that his reputation, name, and talent could win
the fight. Instead Buster Douglas didn’t buy into Tyson’s hype, believed that he
himself could beat him, and put in the work to shock the world.
Years later, Tyson admitted his training regimen and mental preparation were simply lacking
in the weeks leading up to the fight. If Tyson had properly prepared for the fight and was
actually focused, the fight wouldn’t have ended the way it did. But because nothing
in life is ever guaranteed until it’s in the past, this is why fights are still fought
no matter what the odds. The ability to humbly confess to defeat without making ridiculous
excuses is rare, not only in the boxing world, but just in general. This is clearly an attitude
that illustrates Tyson’s persona well, as he’s the type to speak what he believes
to be the truth. 3 - Always Be self-aware
Speaking of persona, how many different personas have we seen of Mike Tyson? He’s gone from
being the bullied, TO the bully, to a criminal, to a heavyweight champ, to a guy getting laughs
in movies and late-night TV. The bad press Tyson used to receive only painted
just one side of him. The sports media loved to put the mic in front of Tyson and watch
the chaos ensue. And in the same way, Tyson had trouble refusing any camera. He once admitted
that he comes across as crass, a Neanderthal, and a babbling idiot at times. But, Tyson
would later admit say that he likes to show that person to the public. He knows what his
persona is and how he comes across, and he’s not ashamed to show that side of himself.
Tyson knows that he isn’t without faults, and he’d rather give the world the truth
than tell cheesy lies. However, a lot of people aren’t self aware and don’t realize the
persona they give off. When they act a certain way to expect a certain reaction but instead
receive another, they wonder why there’s a disconnect. Iron Mike on the other hand,
knows exactly how he wants to be perceived and is okay with his imperfections.
In his book, Undisputed Truth, Tyson said that a lot of people assumed that Ali was
his favorite boxer, but instead it’s actually Roberto Duran. Tyson always looked at Ali
as being handsome and articulate, and Tyson saw himself as short and ugly with a speech
impediment. When he watched Duran fight, he realized he was just a street guy, just like
him. Duran would supposedly ridiculous things to his opponents such as, quote “Suck my
f*cking d*ck you motherf*cker. Next time you’re going to the f*cking morgue.” Tyson thought
Duran was exactly like him, and he wanted to do what he did. Duran wasn’t ashamed
of being who he was and Tyson related to him as a human being.
As Tyson’s boxing career went on, people started praising Tyson for being a savage,
and Tyson knew that being called an animal was the highest praise he could get from someone
because that’s exactly what he wanted to be.
People go to NASCAR races to see a big crash, and people go to boxing matches to see two
guys beat the living h*ll out of each other. This isn’t exactly news, but when Mike Tyson
enters the ring and gives the people what they want, that’s how Tyson planned it out.
Tyson says that he knows his role and he’s okay with the millions of people who see him
in the ring and hate his guts because of his crazy quotes.
2 - Keep what you earn This is a lesson a lot of athletes can teach
us. When anyone first makes any serious money of their own, they’re gonna spend some money
because they’re feeling rich. However, some people think that that cash flow is for forever,
and spend like it’s gonna come in for forever. Unfortunately, Iron Mike was one of the many
athletes that had to learn the hard way about money. When the millions started rolling in,
it rolled out just as fast. Stories about his spending are just legendary. Tyson at
one time employed as many as 200 people, including bodyguards, chauffeurs, chefs, and gardeners!
Some of his less frugal moments include spending nearly $4.5 million on cars and motorcycles,
$3.4 million on clothes and jewelry, a d $7.8 million on “personal expenses”. When Tyson
married his first wife Robin Givens, he decided to show his love in the form of a $2 million
bathtub he bought her for Christmas one year. According to documents from one of Tyson’s
divorces, he used to have a $400,000 dollar a month lifestyle!! That’s just the recurring
expenses, not counting the random stuff he bought.
The list is endless, but you get the picture. Tyson certainly wasn’t cheap and he definitely
didn’t want to have to think about money. But unfortunately even if you make hundreds
of millions of dollars, you can easily spend that amount if you put your mind to it. Tyson
made an insane amount of money; he made over 400 million dollars in his life, but he managed
to spend it all and then some. He ended up filing chapter 11 bankruptcy having a debt
of 23 million dollars back in 2003. While on the talk show The View in early May
2010, Tyson revealed that he was forced to live paycheck to paycheck. He went on to say
that he’s totally broke, but that he still thinks that he has an awesome life, and an
awesome wife who cares about him, even if he was “totally broke”. He admitted that
he had a lot of fun with his money and that going broke sort of just happened. That’s
the thing; even though it just “happened” to Tyson, really, it didn’t just happen.
Going broke is a direct result of reckless spending and no planning. No matter what kind
of cash flow you have, you’re only able to keep what you earn when you have a lifestyle
to match accordingly. 1 - Have a mentor
No matter what it is, it always helps to find someone to bring the best out of you. Tyson
met legendary boxing trainer Cus D’amato back in March of 1980, and his life was forever
changed. Cus D’amato watched Tyson spar just a few rounds with former professional
boxer Bobby Stewart, as I had mentioned earlier. Cus saw the raw talent and potential in Tyson
and said to him quote, “If you listen to me, I can make you the youngest heavyweight
champion of all time.”
Tyson realized years later how weak he was as a little kid, and quickly realized that
D’amato’s strategy was psychology. Tyson said he realized how weak he was, and once
he was given a little strength, he was addicted.
Tyson started going out to Cus’s house every weekend, but when he first started going,
he wasn’t even allowed to box. The first thing Cus told Tyson about was fear and how
to overcome it. Cus described fear as the greatest obstacle to learning, but fear was
Tyson’s best friend. Fear is like fire. If Tyson learned to control it, it’d work
for him. If Tyson didn’t learn to control it, it’d destroy him and everything around
him
D’amato also described the difference between a hero and a coward to Tyson. He said there
wasn’t difference in what each of them felt, but what they do is what what makes them different.
He told Tyson that he had to have the discipline to do what a hero does and to keep himself
from doing what the coward does.
Tyson was only 14, but Tyson took to Cus D’amato’s mentorship and was a true believer in Cus’s
philosophy. Tyson said he was always training and thinking like a Roman gladiator. He likened
it to being in a perpetual state of war in his mind, yet on the outside seeming calm
and relaxed.
At the time that Tyson met Cus D’amato, he was still an undisciplined kid who had
no clue the potential that he had. But all it took was the right person with the right
type of mentorship to cultivate Tyson’s raw talent and become the best in
the world. Here’s what’s next!