Mike Tyson: from a Catskill gym to heavyweight champion at 20 | Ultimate Boxing Reunion

Why fans still care

MIKE TYSON was 20 when he won the heavyweight title, younger than anyone before or since. Within two years he held the WBA, WBC and IBF belts at once, the first heavyweight to do it, and then he knocked out the unbeaten Michael Spinks in 91 seconds.

He walked to the ring in ankle-high boots with no socks. The night he beat Trevor Berbick he wore black trunks and a towel with a hole torn in it for his head.

Ask a fight fan about him and you’ll hear about the speed and the power first. Then someone will bring up Tokyo.

Early life

He was born in Brooklyn on 30 June 1966 and grew up there. As a boy he was sent to reform school. He told Associated Press in 2011 that he was there because he was “always robbing people”.

A counsellor at the school, Bobby Stewart, was a boxing fan, and he introduced the boy to Cus D’Amato, Who’s Who number 36 (story coming soon). In 1980, aged 14, Tyson moved to Catskill in upstate New York to train with D’Amato. After his mother died, D’Amato became his legal guardian.

Catskill

The mornings started with roadwork along gravel roads. The gym was the Cus D’Amato Boxing Club, a cold, dark room above the Catskill Police Department. D’Amato taught him the peek-a-boo style, with the gloves held close to the cheeks and the arms tight to the body. Teddy Atlas worked with him as a young trainer there, and Kevin Rooney trained him from those years through to the Spinks fight.

In 1984 a teenage Lennox Lewis, Who’s Who number 29 came to Catskill and sparred with him for the better part of a week. Lewis remembers Tyson taking him up to his room to watch old fight films, and a teenager who knew all the old fighters and was more into boxing than he was.

As an amateur he lost twice on decisions to Henry Tillman, who went on to win heavyweight gold at the 1984 Olympics. In April 1984 Tyson won the heavyweight title at the National Golden Gloves in St. Louis with a first-round stoppage. The same night Evander Holyfield, Who’s Who number 31 (story coming soon) won at 178 pounds.

Career chapters

1. 1980Moves to Catskill to train with Cus D’Amato, Who’s Who number 36 (story coming soon), aged 14
2. 1984National Golden Gloves heavyweight champion
3. 1985Turns professional in March and wins all 15 of his fights that year. D’Amato dies in November
4. 1986Stops Trevor Berbick to become WBC champion at 20
5. 1987Beats James Smith, Pinklon Thomas and Tony Tucker to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles
6. 1988Stops Larry Holmes, Who’s Who number 19 (story coming soon), then knocks out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds
7. 1990Knocked out by Buster Douglas in Tokyo
8. 1992Convicted in Indianapolis; released in March 1995
9. 1996Stopped by Evander Holyfield, Who’s Who number 31 (story coming soon) in round 11
10. 1997Disqualified in the rematch with Holyfield
11. 2002Knocked out by Lennox Lewis, Who’s Who number 29 in Memphis
12. 2005Retires after losing to Kevin McBride
13. 2011Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame
14. 2020Exhibition with Roy Jones Jr, Who’s Who number 4 (story coming soon)
15. 2024Loses a decision to Jake Paul in Arlington, Texas

D’Amato’s last year 1985

He made his professional debut on 6 March 1985 and stopped Hector Mercedes in the first round. He won every one of his 15 fights that year.

Cus D’Amato, Who’s Who number 36 (story coming soon) died on 4 November 1985, aged 77. Rooney became his head trainer, and Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton managed him.

Berbick 22 November 1986

He was 27 and 0, with 25 knockouts, when he met Trevor Berbick for the WBC title at the Las Vegas Hilton. Along the way, in July that year, he had stopped Marvis Frazier, the son of Joe Frazier, Who’s Who number 32, in 30 seconds.

Berbick, as champion, had the choice of black trunks. Tyson wore black anyway and was fined $5,000 by the Nevada commission. Early in round 2 he put Berbick down, and at 2:35 of the round the referee Mills Lane stopped it. Tyson was heavyweight champion at 20, the youngest ever.

Berbick had been the last man to fight Muhammad Ali, Who’s Who number 33, in December 1981.

Three belts 1987

In 1987 he beat James Smith and Tony Tucker on points over 12 rounds and stopped Pinklon Thomas in the sixth. After the Tucker fight on 1 August he held the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, the first heavyweight to hold all three at once.

Holmes and Spinks 1988

On 22 January 1988 he stopped Larry Holmes, Who’s Who number 19 (story coming soon) in the fourth round. Holmes was the man who had beaten Ali in 1980.

On 27 June he met Michael Spinks at Convention Hall in Atlantic City, in front of 21,785 people. Spinks was unbeaten and held the lineal title. A left hook to the head and a right to the body put him down. He got up, Tyson landed a right hand, and the referee Frank Cappuccino counted him out at 1:31 of the first round.

Michael Spinks is the younger brother of Leon Spinks, Who’s Who number 30 (story coming soon), and UPI reported that Tyson was the first unquestioned heavyweight champion since Leon in 1978.

Tyson parted ways with Rooney that year. In 1989 he stopped Frank Bruno in five rounds and Carl Williams in one.

Tokyo 11 February 1990

James “Buster” Douglas was a 42 to 1 underdog at the Tokyo Dome. He controlled the fight with his jab, and by the middle rounds Tyson’s left eye was badly swollen. In round 8 a Tyson uppercut put Douglas down, but he got up before the count ended.

In round 10 Douglas landed an uppercut and a combination, and Tyson went down and fumbled for his mouthpiece as he was counted out, at 1:23 of the round.

Don King, Who’s Who number 18 (story coming soon), his promoter, protested that the referee’s count had been too long when Douglas was down. The IBF recognised Douglas straight away, and the WBC and WBA followed within days. The result stood.

Four months later Tyson knocked out Henry Tillman, the man who had beaten him twice as an amateur, in the first round.

Prison and the return 1992 to 1996

In February 1992 an Indianapolis jury convicted him of rape. He was sentenced to ten years, four of them suspended, and was released in March 1995. He has always maintained his innocence.

He came back in August 1995 and won four fights in just over a year, including a third-round stoppage of Bruno and a first-round stoppage of Bruce Seldon.

Holyfield 1996 and 1997

On 9 November 1996 he fought Holyfield at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Holyfield had opened as a 25 to 1 underdog. Tyson was down in round 6 and saved by the bell in round 10, and the referee Mitch Halpern stopped it 37 seconds into round 11. The Ring named it the Fight of the Year and the Upset of the Year.

In the rematch on 28 June 1997 he was disqualified in round 3 for biting Holyfield’s ears. He was fined $3 million and lost his licence, which was later given back. Years later the two of them made up on The Oprah Winfrey Show, on 16 October 2009.

Lewis 8 June 2002

He fought Lewis, his old Catskill sparring partner, for the WBC and IBF titles at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis. The judges gave Tyson only the first round. In round 8 Lewis put him down with a right hand, and the referee Eddie Cotton counted him out at 2:25. Afterwards Tyson called Lewis “a masterful boxer”.

In October 2000 he had beaten Andrew Golota, who quit after two rounds, but the result was later changed to a no contest after Tyson tested positive for marijuana.

The last fights 2003 to 2005

He knocked out Clifford Etienne in the first round in 2003. In 2004 Danny Williams knocked him out in four, and on 11 June 2005 in Washington he stayed on his stool after round 6 against Kevin McBride. It was the last fight of his first career.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota on 12 June 2011.

Jones and Paul 2020 to 2024

On 28 November 2020 he boxed an exhibition with Roy Jones Jr, Who’s Who number 4 (story coming soon) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, eight two-minute rounds, and it was ruled a split draw. The MMA coach Rafael Cordeiro was given the job of getting him back in shape. They trained three times a day for months, and the week before the fight Cordeiro said, “We’re on a sparring week in the gym.”

On 15 November 2024 (US time), aged 58, he fought Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, over eight two-minute rounds. Paul won a unanimous decision, 80 to 72, 79 to 73 and 79 to 73. CompuBox had Tyson landing 18 of 97 punches. Netflix said 60 million households watched. Tyson wrote afterwards, “This is one of those situations when you lost but still won.”

Style, technique and the corner

How he fought

He fought from D’Amato’s peek-a-boo style, with his gloves up by his cheeks and his arms tight to his body.

The punches

Against Spinks it was a left hook to the head and a right to the body, then a right hand to finish. Against Berbick it was a right to the body and a left hook to the head. His uppercut put Douglas down in Tokyo.

The ring kit

talkSPORT called the ankle-high boots and no socks his trademark. Against Berbick he wore black trunks even though the champion had chosen black, was fined $5,000, and walked out with his head poked through a crudely ripped towel.

The corner

Bobby Stewart found him. Cus D’Amato, Who’s Who number 36 (story coming soon) trained him and became his guardian, and Teddy Atlas worked with him in Catskill. Kevin Rooney was his head trainer after D’Amato died, through to 1988. Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton managed him, and Don King, Who’s Who number 18 (story coming soon) promoted him through to the second Holyfield fight in 1997. Rafael Cordeiro ran his camp for the 2020 exhibition.

Weight

He was a heavyweight all the way through. He was listed at 5 feet 11 inches, and against Lewis in 2002 he weighed about 234 pounds.

Stories people still tell

1. The towel.

   For the title fight with Berbick, the night he became champion, he walked in with a towel ripped so his head fitted through it.

2. 91 seconds.

   The Spinks fight was the richest of its time, with an $11 million site fee and a $13 million live gate. It lasted 91 seconds.

3. The film room.

   Lewis was 18 when he went to Catskill to spar. He remembers Tyson taking him up to his room to watch old fight films and knowing all the old fighters.

4. In his own words.

   After the loss to Jake Paul in 2024 he wrote, “This is one of those situations when you lost but still won.”

Legacy

He’s still the youngest man to win the heavyweight title, and the first to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF belts at once. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.

Tyson Fury, Who’s Who number 17 (story coming soon) is named after him. Tyson was one of the pallbearers at Ali’s funeral in 2016, with Lewis. When George Foreman, Who’s Who number 35 died in 2025, Tyson said, “His contribution to boxing and beyond will never be forgotten.”