Mike Tyson in his prime was one of the most ferocious heavyweights the world has ever seen.
However, his mentalWatch when 15-year-old Mike Tyson cried before fight, then won by first-round knockout insecurities have been well documented and are rooted back during childhood.
Tyson experienced a rough upbringing with his single mother who died when he was just 16.
By the age of 13, he had been arrested 38 times for a variety of minor crimes and ended up at a juvenile detention center where his boxing talent was spotted.
He was at this point introduced to Cus D’Amato, who took him in and trained him alongside Kevin Rooney and Teddy Atlas.
Aged 14 in 1981, Tyson triumphed at the national Junior Olympics tournament.
He then returned to defend his title a year later, just days before his 16th birthday, but nearly pulled out before the final due to nerves.
Tyson can be heard crying in the above video and is coaxed back by Atlas: “Don’t leave Denver now, come on.
“Just relax, Michael, relax. Just relax, all it is is another boxing match, you’ve done it already 20 times.
“You’ve done it in the gym with better fighters than you’re gonna fight here.
“It’s always hard, but I mean, you know, you always have confidence because it always comes off on your side.
“You’re always better than everybody you get in there with, right?
“Alright, let’s go get ready for a fight, come on.”
Tyson went on to win by first round knockout over Kelton Brown and celebrated wildly when his opponent’s corner threw in the towel.
