i dare you to poke him in the tummy to see if he giggles like the pillsbury doughboy.

I've known Mike since he was 16. My father used to work for the NYS junvenile system. My father was actually the one that approved Cus D'Amato to take custody of Mike. Given the environment he grew up in, he was one hell of a guy. He saw one of his best friends shoot his other best friend, 5 feet from him. Everyone that was ever a positive roll model in his life died on him. His mother, Cus, Jimmy Jacobs... then Don King stepped in and lead him down the most beneficial path for King. Last time I saw Mike was the day before his first title fight. I was at the boxing club w/ him and there was a horde of reporters. He wouldn't let any of them take his pic, unless I was sitting next to him. Granted, I was only 13 and he was larger than life to me at that time, but he always went out of his way to include me in any event I was at. He would come to our house for dinner often and I attended many of birthday parties and Golden Glove celebration. My father has seen him several times (pre-Homles incident) and Mike always pushed his way through the crowd to greet my father.

So while he's made a lot of bad choices near the end of his career, keep in mind who was holding onto the reigns. With all of the negative influences in his life, you'd be amazed at how gentle of a person he really is. As the saying goes, "don't judge another, until you've walked a mile in his shoes."

Josh, that is truly fascinating. I saw him once in Vegas entering one of the big hotels with his entourage, about 30 people, including one guy wearing a cape. I assumed they were all on his payroll (maybe not). At any rate, I thought if this guy is paying all these people, he's going to be broke soon. That was probably 20 years ago.

Yup. Saw the same thing in Chicago. Morton's or Ruth Chris—can't remember which. He had half the restaurant booked with his hangers-on. I remember thinking how stupid the guy must be not to realize that all of these people were draining him like leeches. A very sad sight.

Great story, Josh. I think so many of us wanted him to be the next Ali and were disappointed at his failings outside the ring. He really did lack a mentor after D'Amato.

Biting off a piece of someones ear during a boxing match is approaching insanity and a deathblow to a career. I hope he is doing well and staying out of trouble.

Any photos of you guys enjoying good times together?

Weird how everyone says how "gentle" he is. I'm not sure Robin Givens, for example, would agree.

Truly a sad story.

His life fell apart as soon as he hooked up with Givens. Rooney knew exactly what she was up to before they got married and told it like he saw it, that she was a c_nt.

Givens first act was to get Mike to fire Rooney and to get Don King in.

Mike's defensive and offensive boxing and fragile mental skills rapidly declined under the bejeweled trainers that he now in his corner.

The guy indeed needs help.

I dont know the man much, but when he was fighting NO WAY was I gonna miss it! I loved watching him fight. I couldn't believe he was married to Robin, she was a babe!

As for the rape charges against Miss B-USA, I watched her testimony too. I'm sorry but what in the world was she doing in a hotel room by herself with Mike Tyson?

I hope he finds peace and enjoys the rest of his years; sounds like he's had a hell of a run.

My brother was head of security for Ali during a visit to Afghanistan, but Ali wasn't doing well with his illnesses. I've got a pic somewhere if anyone would be interested? I loved to watch him fight too, as a kid he was a hero! Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee!

It really sucked watching his downward spiral after Jimmy died. I knew once King sunk his talens in him, he was doomed. Luckily for me, most of my memories are around the young Mike, when Teddy and Rooney were still in the picture. They used to have the greatest parties at Cus' house. Like I said, Mike always made sure I was included. It was great hanging out with "the gang" of rough and tumble fighters that were always taking up residence at Cus'. Many of them had similar backgrounds to Mike. While Cus ran a tight ship in the gym, it was Camile (I guess she was kind of Cus' girlfriend) that kept everyone in line outside of the gym. All of these kids were very generous and it was like a big family - at least when Cus was still around.

I was actually doing the math, I think I was around 9 or 10 when I met him, so Mike was probably 14 or 15 at the time. I have a great shot of him giving me a (fake) uppercut during one of his visits to our house. That's the Mike I remember and the light I will always paint him in.

Terry - I'll have to see if my Dad can scan the picture and send it to me. I know we have others, but that's the one that always hung on my wall, growing up. (see my previous post)

Even gentle folk will occasionally bite a bit of someone's ear off.

Here are pics from his abandoned mansion.

http://www.popgive.com/2008/07/abandoned-mansion-of-mike-tyson.html


Personally, I feel for the guy. I think a lot of his reactions were trained into him from an early age, so the only way he knew how to respond was with violence and aggression. That's part of what made him as good as he was.

Combine that with the rampant greed of those closest to him, as well as those looking at him as an instant prize in lawsuits, and I don't think he ever had a chance.

He had the same eye doctor I did in Hudson , N.Y. in the early 80's.
On one visit as I was entering , a young , square - I remember he filled the space of the door -black man was leaving.
The doc said do you know who that is ?
-The next heavyweight champ.

+1 on the walk a mile thing.
Tragic.

Yeah but he can still knock you out with one punch.

Looking forward to this! Thanks for sharing your memories.SmileWavy

Growing up in Paterson Lou Duva was a neighbor of ours. Boxing was ever present around there. Lou's opinion was that Tyson was not a great boxer but a phenomenal fighter. Ali was a great boxer, Mike a great fighter. Guess to the experts there's a difference. I wouldn't get near the ring with either variety!

The fatter you get the shorter other things become. Look how short his arms are!

Don't you think that boxing is 60% taking a punch and 40% giving them? I'm pretty sure the ones that lasted more years knew how to do that. The ones that didn't were gone in 60 seconds. Forever.

You'd be killed just like me.

There is indeed a difference between a "boxer" and a "fighter". The boxer fights with the skills of an artist; technical, calculating, precision. The fighter goes in short on those attributes, but makes up for it with heart and determination. I don't know any boxing fans or experts that would accuse Tyson of being a "boxer", practicing the sweet science. He was an animal, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Heart of a lion, he knew no fear in the ring. He was a scared little kid outside of it, but when he pulled on those black trunks and shoes... he was a warrior from a different time and place. In their respective primes, he would have disassembled Ali in a round or two. Frazier almost did it, but think of Frazier times ten, and you have Iron Mike.

Hey Milt, I've got some tuff guy friends and I'd say the ones that make it to the top are more 90% because of what they can take and 10% of what they can give? I'm not sure about Mike Tyson because he can sure give it out, but most guys aren't gonna make it if they can't take it; that's the real difference to a champion.

Kinda like life, the biggest winners are usually the greatest losers!

My good buddy Mario won the Gold in the PanAm BJJ championships last year; this dude can "take it"! www.shuswapbjj.com