Mike Tyson became emotional as he recounted the moment he watched Muhammad Ali lose to Larry Holmes alongside his mentor Cus D’Amato. Tyson, only 15 at the time, witnessed his idol Ali suffer a brutal defeat in 1980.
During a conversation with Tony Robbins, Tyson broke down recalling the event. He said, “I’m 15 now, I had a couple of championships and we are watching Ali fight Larry Holmes. It was really bad, excuse me about crying.
It was really bad. So Cus says… ah, man I can’t believe I’m doing this, ‘Are you ready to face and dethrone this man after he beat up Ali?’ He taught me to become the greatest fighter in the world.”
D’Amato took Tyson under his wing at 16 after the death of Tyson’s mother Lorna. Despite D’Amato’s passing when Tyson was 19, his influence on Tyson’s career was profound.
Tyson credited D’Amato with his success, saying, “I just don’t know where it came from, how I met this old man, and he made me this fighter.
I still don’t understand that to this day. My psychiatrist, my therapist, he was my everything.”
Tyson fulfilled his promise to D’Amato by knocking out Holmes in four rounds in 1988. Before the fight, Ali spoke with Tyson in the ring, urging him to seek redemption on his behalf. Tyson revealed, “(Ali said) Get him for me – I got him!”