12-Year-Old Mike Tyson Used To KO Grown Men, Former Trainer Says

A former trainer revealed that Mike Tyson used to knockout grown men when he was only 12 years old.

Veteran boxing trainer Teddy Atlas may not be around during Tyson’s prime. However, as one of Cus D'Amato's pupils, he played a significant role in the development of an amateur Tyson and was present when the then-12-year-old first walked in the gym.

In a recent interview with RingTV.com, Atlas looked back at the time when Tyson first entered boxing. According to Atlas, “Iron Mike” was a freak of nature as he already weighed around 190 pounds at the age of 12.

"As far as most pure, God-given talent, raw, from the earliest stage that you saw, it would have to be a 12-year-old Tyson, who was 190 pounds but no fat,” Atlas recalled.

What was more shocking than Tyson’s weight during those days was the fact that the former world heavyweight champ used to spar with men more than twice his age. And as per Atlas’ recollection, Tyson was even able to knock them out.

"He had to impress me and Cus; he had to box his first day with a 27-year-old man who was a professional fighter and he was able to do that. You can’t put him in with kids to spar because there are none and so you’re hiring sparring partners and they’re men and he’s hurting them and knocking them out,” Atlas revealed.

At an early age, Tyson was already a beast. He also developed some skills which he was able to utilize during his prime.

"Anyone who could be knocking out men when he’s 12, 13 years old is a pretty damn good puncher. He learned the technique to make you miss and catch you clean but power’s power and punchers are born not made," Atlas noted.

Atlas also described how resilient Tyson was back then and even in his glory days. According to him, Tyson had a tremendous chin and had a neck which was close to 20 inches. And looking back at Tyson’s career, Atlas pointed out that the boxing legend didn’t lose because of he got dominated by his opponents. Instead, Tyson’s will to fight “cracked” first before his career eventually went downhill.

"What wasn’t strong was his will. That’s what cracked. His will cracked before his chin. He absorbed those punches and he took big punches before he got knocked out. He showed a chin to handle those punches at a very high level. His will wasn’t nearly as strong as his chin," Atlas pointed out.