Iron Ambition

The story of the relationship between the most devastating heavyweight boxer in history and the mentor who made him. When legendary boxing trainer Cus D'Amato saw thirteen-year-old Mike Tyson spar in the ring, he proclaimed 'That's the heavyweight champion of the world'. D'Amato played a huge role in Tyson's formative years, legally adopting him at age sixteen, and shaping him both physically and mentally after years of living in poverty. He would train the young boxer for several years, dying just months before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. In Iron Ambition, Tyson shares the life lessons that D'Amato passed down to him and reflects on how the trainer's words of wisdom continue to resonate with him outside the ring. The book also chronicles Cus's courageous fight against the mobsters who controlled boxing, revealing more than we've ever know about this singular cultural figure.

THE GREATEST BOXING COACH IN HISTORY 'The Cus D'Amato Mind' teaches the principles and philosophies of the great trainer D'Amato, which took young boys such as Mike Tyson and Floyd Patterson to the heavyweight championship in a few short years. THE MAN WHO MADE MIKE TYSON In 1980, a young Mike Tyson was in the Tryon school for juvenile delinquents. By the age of 13, Mike had already been arrested dozens of times, had suffered bullying, and often engaged in criminal activities like armed robbery and house burglary. He was heading down a certain path to death or a life of prison. Fast forward six years later, and Mike Tyson had become the youngest heavyweight champion at 20 years old, after destructively crafting a route to the top. What had happened? How could such a change happen in such a short space of time? The answer is Cus D'Amato. The great boxing coach Cus D'Amato was a revolutionist. He was a modern-day philosopher. He was a leader who changed the lives of those he helped. Cus would literally take juvenile kids of the street, and house them in his fourteen-room mansion. Impressively, he was able to instill them with the character of champions, so they would be able to go out and conquer the world, whether they were fighters or not. Cus D'Amato created champions. LEARN HIS SECRETS In this book, we break down the mental strategies that any fighter (or anyone) can use in order to excel towards greatness. Fighters all over the world are able to acquire trainers that can teach technique. But they are unable to find teachers, like the Cus D'Amato's and the Angelo Dundee's, who can instill them with charismatic confidence, and help them deal with anxiety and fear before matches. The book consists of five sections. Each section is designed to empower you in a different area. The five sections are: * Character * Fear * Anxiety * Resistance * Leadership Without knowing what makes a champion, and how you can become one too, you will never be able to achieve it. After learning what makes 'The Cus D'Amato Mind', you will be more charismatic, confident, with a greater sense of control over your path to boxing greatness.

UPDATED: Iron Ambition chronicles a CEO's mid-life odyssey from corporate excess and sloth, to completing the Ironman Triathlon. This is NOT a book for those looking for training advice. It is the story of all the mistakes made trying to do too much, too soon, and wasting thousands of dollars on unnecessary equipment that made little difference in the end. This book is really targeted toward mid-career, 6-figure executives who struggle with the daily battle of balancing work and family while harboring the guilt of broken promises and delayed dreams. The wildly-mixed reviews reflect the disappointment of athletes who were seeking training advice or who misinterpreted the author's intention of helping others avoid his costly mistakes by candidly acknowledging his near-obsession with Ironman and how this costly pursuit took over much of his life. Since completing the Ironman, the author has also completed the ULTRAMAN, a 3-day stage race format triathlon consisting of a 6.2 mile swim, 260 miles of cycling and a 52-mile double marathon run on the final day.

Be sure to check out IRON AMBITION: My Life with Cus D’Amato by Mike Tyson “Raw, powerful and disturbing—a head-spinning take on Mr. Tyson's life.”—Wall Street Journal Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon—Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most ferocious boxers of all time—and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior. Yet—even after hitting rock bottom—the man who once admitted being addicted “to everything” fought his way back, achieving triumphant success as an actor and newfound happiness and stability as a father and husband. Brutal, honest, raw, and often hilarious, Undisputed Truth is the singular journey of an inspiring American original.

Covering Mike Tyson's rise through the amateur and professional boxing ranks, this book follows the Brooklyn native from his early years as a young criminal in Brownsville to his 1988 heavyweight unification match with Michael Spinks. The book focuses on the Catskill Boxing Club--where boxing guru Cus D'Amato trained the 210-pound teenager in the finer points of the sport and developed his impregnable defense--and on his home life with D'Amato and surrogate mother Camille Ewald and the other young fighters who lived with them. Tyson's boxing education began in the unauthorized "smokers" held every week in the Bronx, matching his skills against older, more experienced fighters. He won the 1981 Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Colorado Springs at the age of 14 and repeated the amazing feat the following year. By 1985, finding no other challenging amateur competition, he was forced to join the professional ranks where, in November 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. Less than two years later, he unified the crown, establishing himself as one of the most dominant heavyweight fighters the sport had ever seen.

Blood-soaked blades have been taking their toll among the luscious lovelies in Garrett’s home city of TunFaire. And though Garrett can be as civic-minded as the next guy—unless the next guy is Captain Block of the Watch—the private eye isn’t sure he really wants to take on a serial killer psycho who does too good a carving job and never leaves any of the blood behind. Still, having Block pay him for his services with lots of ill-gotten government funds, and having his own partner, the Dead Man, strenuously urge him to take the case, prove an irresistible combination for Garrett. And so he begins a search that would take him from the lowest slums to the highest estates, from confrontations with magic-spitting enemies to run-ins with the king of crime’s wayward daughter, to a final encounter with an ancient evil that has once again been loosed on his unsuspecting town.

Former lightweight champion and acclaimed biographer Jose Torres has written this first, full-scale portrait of boxing's most explosive, intriguing and dominating champion--Mike Tyson. 16-page photo insert.

This is a book about a great man, an unbeaten boxing coach who in his lifetime nurtured three heavyweight world champions—a feat no one is capable of repeating nowadays. Cus D’Amato - the book is about him. The legend whose triumph is absolute, and requires no unnecessary comment and third-party consent. Here is a complete guide to the skill and tools needed to get a fundamental insight of D’Amato’s system, psychology and philosophy. This book will be useful for anybody who is striving for self-perfection and seeking an effective lifestyle methodology of a champion, not only in boxing. Cus D’Amato didn’t become phenomenal at birth. He used to say that a human being is not born as the finest, but he becomes truly outstanding through persistent and heavy work! This book is the crowning jewel of Oleg Maltsev’s 20 years of research, a shining piece of collaboration created in New York together with a disciple of the legendary Cus: Tom Patti.