Mike Tyson Names Only Person Who Frightened Him

Mike Tyson named the only person who ever made him feel frightened and uncomftable during his prime.

Tyson was not only a legendary boxer. With his vicious KO power and intimidating physique, it was no surprise that only few brave men wanted to go toe-to-toe with him inside the ring. However, behind the menacing image, Tyson admitted that when the time the world was starting to see him as one of the most terrifying men in boxing, there was one person who made him feel frightened – his mentor Cus D’Amato.

D’Amato introduced the young Tyson to boxing and played a huge role in developing “Iron Mike” into a world champion. The pair worked together until the D’Amato’s last days. But just recently, Tyson has revealed the dark side of their relationship.

Writing in his book “Iron Ambition: MY Life with Cus D’Amato,” Tyson stated that he didn’t feel good whenever D’Amato would ask him to come over for a talk. In fact, the young Tyson was even “petrified” when he was alone with D’Amato, Daily Star reported.

“I was petrified when I was alone with him,” Tyson revealed.

“If he called me – ‘Mike, I need to talk to you’ – I didn’t feel good going over to him,” Tyson added.

Tyson also revealed that D’Amato often criticized his performances. According to the legend, despite winning his fights by knocking his opponents out cold, D’Amato would still make him feel bad about it.

“People see the public celebrations of my sensational knockouts but they don’t hear Cus talking to me alone after the fight. He’d make me feel like s---, play with my emotions. He would put things in your head all day,” Tyson stated.

In the history of boxing, Tyson was widely known for being fearless and ferocious. However, it only took an old and graying man to “crush” Tyson’s feelings.

“Cus made me feel two inches tall, when he asked me ‘am I wasting my time with you? I’m an old man. you’re a phone’,” Tyson recalled.

“The man I worshipped was telling me I was a phony. It was crushing. I soon learned to walk on eggshells when I was around Cus,” Tyson continued.

When talking to the media, Tyson said that he learned how to shut his mouth whenever D’Amato is happy and laughing with the press. As per Tyson, he knew that D’Amato could “embarrass him” instantly if he say something his mentor wouldn’t like.

“I knew I could get embarrassed in front of everyone if I spoke out of line. So I learned rather fast not to say anything while he was talking unless he invited me to,” Tyson revealed.