Mike Tyson Reveals How He Developed His Vicious KO Power

Mike Tyson uncovered the story behind his vicious KO power which destroyed 44 of his opponents.

Tyson is one of the boxing greats who started his career at a very young age. He already had 15 bouts in his first year as a professional and has frequently fought since then. “Iron Mike” won 26 of his first 28 fights by KO or TKO, 16 of those came in the first round.

His former trainer Teddy Atlas is convinced that the young Tyson is indeed a freak of nature. Based on Atlas’ recollection, the then 12-year-old Tyson has a “God-given” power in his hands which he used to KO grown men during sparring sessions.

"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.

However, Tyson himself revealed that his KO power isn’t just a gift from God. Although he believes that he was born with extremely powerful hands and physique, Tyson admitted that he was able to knock people out cold because he was hitting them with “bad intensions” running through his head. A mentality he developed from his mentor Cus D’Amato, Daily Star reported.

“I think I was born that way,” he said in an interview with GQ Sports.

“But I developed it through Cus D’Amato telling me repetitiously over and over again to do this movement and to punch with this type of bad intentions,” Tyson added.

The boxing icon even noted that D’Amato taught him to always punch his opponents to destroy them inside not just outside.

“And just to have ferociousness and mean intentions whenever you throw punches and stuff. And try and punch through your opponent, not at him,” Tyson revealed.

“It was some nasty stuff that I would never tell my kids to do,” Tyson continued.

Apparently, it was also D’Amato who influenced Tyson’s “badass” attitude in boxing. According to the legend, D’Amato was calm but what he was infusing him fueled the beast inside of him.

“Cus fuelled my ‘I don’t give a f***’ attitude. Every fight I had, Cus would be talking about breaking ribs, exploding livers, pushing a guy’s nose into his brain. But he didn’t shout it– he delivered the message cooly and calmly,” Tyson recalled.