As he remembered witnessing Muhammad Ali lose to Larry Holmes with his coach Cus D’Amato, MIKE TYSON sobbed uncontrollably.
When Tyson saw his hero Ali get severely defeated by Holmes in 1980, he was only 15 years old.
That night D’Amato, who trained and adopted the heavyweight legend, turned to Iron Mike and asked whether he was ready to avenge the heartbreaking defeat for his hero.
Tyson recalled the occasion during a chat with American YouTube star and public speaker Tony Robbins, and begins to sob as he opens up.
He said: “I’m 15 now, I had a couple of championships and we are watching Ali fight Larry Holmes.
“It was really bad, excuse me about crying. It was really bad.
“So Cus says… ah, man I can’t believe I’m doing this, ‘Are you ready to face and dethrone this man after he beat up Ali?’
“He taught me to become the greatest fighter in the world.”
When Tyson was 16 years old and his mother Lorna passed away, D’Amato adopted him.
The seasoned coach played a crucial role in the boxer’s early career but tragically passed away when Tyson was only 19 years old.
He would go on to become the youngest heavyweight champion ever a year later, and he attributes all of his success to D’Amato.
An overwhelmed Tyson told Robbins: “I just don’t know where it came from, how I meet this old man and he made me this fighter. I still don’t understand that to this day.
“My psychiatrist, my therapist, he was my everything.”
Tyson kept his promise to D’Amato and in 1988 knocked out Holmes in four rounds.
Before the fight, Ali spoke with the champion in the ring – and urged him to exact redemption for him.
Tyson revealed: “(Ali said) Get him for me a- I got him!”