DOUBLE COVERAGE PODCAST - Mike Tyson On Preparing To Fight Floyd Mayweather & His Plan To Save The Sport Of Boxing
Episode Date: March 20, 2026Mike Tyson talks about what it takes to prepare for a potential fight with Floyd Mayweather and breaks down the mindset, discipline, and experience needed to compete at the highest level of boxing.In ...this episode of Double Coverage, Tyson opens up about growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where fights didn’t end and survival was a daily reality. He explains how boxing gave him identity, purpose, and pride — and why he’s now focused on giving that same opportunity to the next generation.Tyson also shares the real reason behind the Mike Tyson Invitational, why amateur boxing is declining, and what needs to change for the sport to come back in America. From training habits to fighting experience, Tyson gives a raw, unfiltered perspective on what separates great fighters from everyone else.This is one of Mike Tyson’s most honest conversations about boxing, legacy, and helping young fighters become champions in life — not just in the ring. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/DOUBLE Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/DOUBLE and use code DOUBLEand get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What's up guys, Mr. Zach here.
Welcome back to episode 16 of double coverage.
Today I'm joined by the man who needs no introduction.
The youngest heavyweight champion, the most ferocious to ever do it, Mr. Iron Mike Tyson.
Wow, I didn't, on the introduction, I wasn't prepared for it.
It comes out to fast.
Doing great.
It's a big switch on.
We're here at the first annual Mike Tyson Invitational in Las Vegas.
Yes.
How do this come together?
I was just, I went to, listen, this is the truth.
I never said this is the truth.
I went to Richard Steele, Jim, and Vegas.
For some reason, I had to go there.
He asked me to come see the kids.
I don't know why I was there, but I was there.
And I saw the enthusiasm of the children.
And then I watched some of them about this.
He was probably some local, they didn't know what they're doing.
They had started.
And some of them were good fighters.
And I was saying, why, these guys have to be.
has a lot of determination and will.
I said, the world has to see this.
And this is where I come from.
I come from a place, listen.
I come from Brownville, Brooklyn.
It's the kind of place,
when you open up your refrigerator, you see an apple.
One of those places that the road,
you know, it's just the worst place you could possibly think of for a kid.
And when I went upstate to New York from a detention center
that got in trouble,
and I started getting involved with boxes.
And then we used to go from upstate New York, which is 150 miles to New York City, the Bronx,
and we were boxed with other kids.
And then we would go to Rhode Island and box some kids there.
Then go to Boston, boxed kids there.
And we were constantly boxing, constantly busy after school, the weekends.
We would go boxing everything.
And guys would have, when you go to a tournament, a guy will have 200 fights.
The guy will have 75 fights.
Now you go to the tournament.
The guys have no fights.
These guys are not fighting in the tournaments.
They're not one in two.
trophies, of medals, and they're just not doing good.
I think they're trying to even throw boxing out of the Olympics.
They're trying to kick it out.
To do that is just a sin to the art of boxing, to the history of boxing.
It's just a sin.
And if they're kicking it out to Olympics, how bad can we get?
You can't get any worse.
Boxing needs something like that.
So me coming up with this idea, and I'm not trying to run amateur boxing.
I'm an idiot.
That's the last thing I want to do
is run amateur boxing.
So if anybody thinks American about U.S. Boxing,
I want to run out of amateur boxing.
No, I don't want to do that.
I just want kids to come back
and be better assets
and make a better boxing establishment in America.
That's all I want to do.
I don't want to do.
I don't want to know.
This is just what we deserve.
Like the English people say,
this is America's birthright boxing.
And the reason we're not in the Olympics
and we're not competing as well,
is just pathetic really.
You think about it.
From a boxing person, I'm a boxing man.
Anybody understands what a boxing man and understands what I'm talking.
I understand my vernacular and everything.
Absolutely.
We want to see constant fighting.
We want to be, hey, this week we're going to the box.
We want to know we're going to a boxing match for the kids this Saturday, this Sunday, this Monday.
We're not staying home doing nothing or watching TV or going to the movie or watching young kids.
and young kids and prove themselves to making me feel better,
and that should make us happy.
I share with you, my grandfather and great-grandfather
are both from Brownsville,
and when I speak to fighters like Zab, Judah, and Shannon Briggs,
they tell me that growing up in Brownsville,
the fights were tougher than any of their pro fights
because there was no rules and no weight classes.
And then again, the fight's not over.
They see you again.
We're fighting again.
It's not over because you're at just four,
and let's just say, hey, let's squash this piece, me friend.
Does that you all fight and it had to be stopped by somebody else?
I'll see you the model.
You're fighting again
so somebody gets f***ing
or somebody
unconsciously
bow down.
Yeah.
You've got,
you know,
fighting is weird
at Brownsville.
Sometimes people get,
you know,
sometimes,
on occasion,
me and some of my friends,
we're 12,
we're 11 years old,
we go out,
we're going to steal,
around six,
and he sounds like
there being like a bunch of little,
um,
I don't know,
his wolverines.
He's,
and sometimes,
um,
We might get money from somebody get hit by a car.
One of my friends got shot trying to rob this guy with him.
The guy has the guy.
My friend's still trying to rob him.
And the guy shouldn't want to rob him.
I said, hey, the guy gave him the money.
The guy gave him the money.
He still wanted to take the guy.
And, well, I don't even talk about it.
But, yeah, stuff like that happened.
You see stuff like that.
I don't want, ooh, I don't want my kids to see that.
No.
No, definitely not.
So happy to be here.
I'm going to be there Saturday night to tune in front row.
watch the amateur boxing,
and I'm excited that we can bring some enthusiasm back to amateur boxing.
When they see how hard these kids fight for these medals and trophies,
they're going to, man, be crying.
They're going to have so much of enthusiastic moments
just rooting for the kids and seeing the kids.
Especially when they see the kids are sophisticated boxes,
and they're educated in IQ and boxing.
They're going to be so impressed.
Listen, this is...
Sometimes I have to realize...
This right here let me know that I was an narcissist because at first, when I first started and this other place, I guess Adidas opened up a boxing mat and somebody else was trained.
They're the best and we should have.
I got mad, but it's not about me.
I thought it was about me.
They want to crush my mind.
No, it's not about me.
It's about us helping together, helping the kids.
Absolutely.
You know?
Just helping somebody else.
Don't have nothing to do with me.
I went around boxing.
Duh.
You know, we can do it together.
Together we can run out.
You know what I mean?
Help the kids.
100, but that's what it's all about.
Please.
The youth, absolutely.
I believe 100%.
I believe.
There's a big difference
between you as a young professional
and the guys coming up today.
In 1985, you fought 15 times.
Today, guys fight maybe twice a year.
Do you think that helped you
coming up in the freshman ranks fighting that often?
Listen, all right.
I fought 15 fights one year.
Then the next year, I was champion
20 years ago.
You know, the more you do,
it, the better you are. You do it, the better you are. That's why when I always go to
these Puerto Rican kids, they fight all day, every day. They fight their brothers and sisters
and everything. They're constantly fighting, but that's experience. They're kicking their brother
ass. They're fighting for real low. And that's experience. They're getting more experience.
Now they're learning discipline. I don't care who's in that room. My brother, my mother,
anybody, they're going down. Those become the better fighters. You know, but it's all about
doing it and developing discipline. I'm not going to go robin today. I'm going to run
six miles and six blocks, something like that.
You know, it gives you pride and dignity.
When I first started boxing, I came from Brownson,
I had too much pride to go out there at work.
But once I started winning, fights,
and being in the averages and being proud of people knew my name,
you know, I had too much pride to steal.
Absolutely.
Isn't that crazy?
That is crazy.
I would never want to steal.
I have too much pride to steal.
Even though I think I'm some bad,
I have too much pride to steal.
Because that's what Boxing gave me,
getting me dignity, because people knew my name now.
I don't want to disappoint them and let them down.
When I'm a little kid, now, I made my mistake.
But if a little kid,
I thought about that.
I was somebody.
After being coming from nothing and somebody.
An identity.
Exactly, yeah.
Absolutely.
Because when you go to all the amateur country,
the countries and the Russians know your name,
you know what I mean?
The Japanese know your name.
You're fighting all the country.
These people know your name.
You're the amateur.
And they know you better than they know the professionals.
People in other countries.
They're not big in professional boxing.
They're going to get the experience of a lifetime
because they're going to go all over the world.
Robert Rann had called me.
because he heard about what I was doing.
And he said, Mike, I have a team.
Would you like to box my team?
I said I haven't developed a team yet.
But once I did, you'll be the first one.
So Panama is going to be the first Mike Tyson invitation of competition.
Once I develop a team.
Amazing.
Good enough to fight.
Yes.
I love it.
I love it.
When I go back and watch you as a young man,
a lot of people talk about the first-run knockouts of the ferocious finishes.
But what impresses me most is a fight historian,
someone who goes back and watches film,
is your performances against the rough experience
larger guys like James Quick Tillis,
Mitch Blood Green, Jose Nina Robalta,
your ability to close distance,
your speed, your angles,
to really take away their advantages
and get inside.
At such a young age,
how did it feel being an 18-year-old,
214-pound guy battling giants like that?
Listen, it has nothing to do with side.
Fighting has to do with spirit.
Nothing to do with size.
Nothing to do with size.
Nothing to know what to do.
Unless the guy is.
too big and he has overpowers you.
But for the determination of will,
sides really had very little to do with it
when it comes to fighting.
I never looked at that as
advantage,
I always look at that as a,
all my disadvantages,
with my advantage.
I was smaller, I was lower,
they couldn't hit me,
and I was fast,
and when I hit,
and I could hit a little hard
when I hit them there,
kind of dizzy,
and I could take advantage of them.
Yeah, I'd rather fight the bigger guys,
little guys, than the fast guys.
Yeah, fast guys harder to catch.
You're set to fight a pretty fast guy next month in the Congo.
That's going to be cool.
I mean, it's looking forward to that.
That's going to be something that the crowd would be enjoying, I think.
And how cool is it going to be the same place of the Rumble in the Jungle?
That's history.
Hey, listen, when I went over the, it would be so difficult for me to explain them and do the ass women.
It was just something, man.
It was something.
Well, I can't say I've never experienced that, but there was something wonderful to the,
experience. Absolutely. And this being the place where Ali was and in the history there, it's
really special. Well, that's what makes it special. That's the only thing that we know.
Ali and no what else? I have, I looked at my, um, what's that stuff they do again?
For your heritage for your, what that stuff they do? 21 and me, 33 and me. Oh, the ancestry.
Yeah, my ancestry is in the Congo. Oh, wow.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's great.
So my ancestors are going to watch me kick some ass.
All right, you're ready to kick some ass.
They're gonna feel me.
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Prize fix. It's good to be right.
The hand's all good. I'm moving. Yeah, God, everything's good.
Yeah, yeah. But when you're training for a fight, those things happen.
All the time. Yeah. When you walked into the fight with Jake Paul, you had had some pretty
serious health issues, but you still made the walk.
You got to make the walk. Yeah, absolutely. You know, today guys pull out whatever, but you still,
you know, got out there 58 years old and went against a young guy.
Yeah, I mean, I like to walk.
The walk is something.
Yeah.
Something that really, really bothered me about kind of the reactions after the fight
is the fans or fighters insinuate that a champion and a warrior like you would in any way
fix a fight or not give your best performance.
I don't want to fix a fight.
Well, I don't want to do that.
It doesn't make any sense to me.
Look at your legacy.
I'm not going to make more money.
I'm not going to make it more money.
You get the check regardless, yeah.
Right?
Then I'm going to pay me when I'm getting the photo fight, right?
No.
You're not going to give me when I'm getting that third fight.
I'm not going to think about it.
It's not going to give me left.
What am I off me left than what I'm getting?
What's the idiot that is.
They can't compete.
No, I'm not going to say anything.
How does training for this fight against Floyd feel, I mean, compared to some of your past ones and throughout your career?
Well, it's all about, um, my type of limitation right now, Floyd, you know?
Yeah.
This is what it's about.
The kids, the youth.
Yeah, giving back.
Because you see yourself in them.
This is what this is the future.
I'm in the past.
Yeah.
Well, absolutely.
And I'm so excited to be here.
And it was a shot in the arm that we all needed,
especially with the Olympics news.
I agree 100%.
Can you imagine that?
No.
How f*** is that?
A sport with that legacy in that history.
Everybody, even every hotel should open up some amateur club
for we could prepare the battle of the world.
Yeah.
Not just to see
every club
Every hotel should have one
You know
We're fighting
We're supposed to be
The strongest people
In the world
That's what the
That's what boxing
The heavyweight champion
Even in the UFC
That's what it stands for
The best in the world
And we have nothing
To prove it
Absolutely
Just reputation
Speaking of the UFC
Dana White
Nick Con
They're entering the world
of boxing
They turn up Zoufa boxing
You held the WBA
The WBC
The IBF belt
And the ring belt
As well
It seems like
Some of the prestigious
coming back to the ring belt.
They're going to choose another belt in the boxing,
the Zufa boxing belt.
What are your thoughts on that?
Do you think boxing is another belt?
Listen, man, I'm talking about amateur boxing right now.
Stop talking about these other outfits, people.
They're not involved in our situation, okay?
I'm talking about him.
Tell me, ask me something about Amazon to help these kids
and I'll answer that question.
I don't know nothing about these guys
what they're doing with their fucking life.
This is about children right now.
Bigger than those clowns, bigger than me.
How'm a, I'm a bow down the number over this.
I'm going to give you a compliment about them over this.
Zoom, will you please ask me questions about these kids?
Yeah, absolutely.
Who are you excited to see this weekend?
Anyone stand down?
Listen, I want to see little Sean Haney fight.
He's getting ready to fight.
Ryan Rihanna's cousin.
How great is that?
The rivalry goes into amateurs and the family and everything.
Yeah, absolutely.
Everybody's going to see Devon Haney.
There's a real story there.
Yeah, that's what is about me, not about who this guy is.
Yeah, and it's the next generation.
He has his children.
life this is about us yeah our future and extend that and have the young people fight and then
they'll come up that's all our kids will watch this is all I'm grandkids and everyone this is all I want to
think this is one of my babies I want to accomplish yeah they don't have those kids that have no money
they open their refrigerator they see an apple they have no money to come here to eat in a hotel like
kings they look you never experienced living in a hotel or anything you imagine they want them to
make them want to improve themselves and become better and better and better that's all this stuff
that's what the that's the whole situation with you want to make
some feel better. Boxing is not all about becoming a world championing. Boxing is about what you
learn in boxing. You become a world champion in life. Not as they're in the rain with a
belt. This is about making you a champion life. Everybody's not going to be champion in the world,
but they'll be champion in life, you know, and that's what this boxing prepares them for.
We spoke out at the woman as well. How important is it to help these young women in amateur
boxing and help them, help grow them as well? Well, Chris, Chris,
the baddest monster on the planet.
She's a good person to look up to, yeah.
To make everyone respect women boxing.
I know there's other good fighters out there.
I don't know.
I respect them too, but they're not Curriss or Shields.
And that's the real deal.
And listen, I'm going to say all those other women boxes out there,
they contribute too.
I'm not, you know, I'm not saying they're bummed.
They ain't worth anything.
I respect them.
And I look up to them as just as much.
The Curstor Shield is just the goat,
the woke right now, whatever she calls herself.
And I give her that respect.
Oh, she's done an all-way class.
Yes.
She's helped women boxing.
Women in boxing, she'll want to kick her ass, but still respect her for that.
Hopefully, one of these young ladies fighting can be the next scoror shield.
They will.
They'll be better one day.
Yeah.
It's like that surpass me one day.
And that's what I'm, and I want to be a part of it.
I want to be part of the guy that said, Mike Tyson, who, look what I did.
I want to be, I want to be part of helping him be that person.
I want to be part of that
Because once I'm part of that
Then that's what makes me part of him
Right?
Absolutely
You're connected to that forever
Yeah, for real
Especially if we can revitalize boxing
Because it's in a bad spot
If I could inspire somebody to be
From the perspective of the world
Better than me, you know
As something I look at in my head
I put a feather at my hat
I don't look at him
He's about the wild
I helped him become that
That's how I look at like
Duran and Ali helped me become this guy
I am now.
So important.
And that's what's fulfilling you now.
Well, that's what bugs me out.
I can't believe I saw this guy and I said, I want to be like him,
and I became Mike Tyson.
Can you imagine that?
I see this.
I don't know.
I just want to be like him.
I see the Rand's fucking little Latino guy with a pig.
I want to be like him.
And I became like the mom pig.
You know, I'm telling people that suck this and do that.
And by learning all that, going to prison,
that made me the person I am now to care about the kids that I'm working with now.
You can't imagine all that stuff, all that disgusting, negative stuff sometimes, prison, all that stuff.
It all made me this person.
And that's why I'm grateful.
I'm not, I'm not depressed.
I'm not so sorry for myself.
I became deaf.
I beat all the odds.
And now I'm going to give something to the world.
God willing.
God is great.
God is good even when it looks bad.
Even when he looks bad, he's good.
versus Ryan Garcia's, I mean, how great is that?
Hey, listen, that's the headliner.
You know what I mean?
Imagine that alone.
That's professional stuff, right?
Listen, it's legacy, man, it's legacy.
And the families and everything, especially in Las Vegas,
getting that type of main event and your first invitation.
That's incredible.
And listen, God is great.
You know what I mean?
I'm really close friends with the Hanes and stuff.
And God is great.
Yeah, God's great.
Yeah, God's great.
Yeah, I saw Bill earlier.
They're excited.
And I saw Ryan and Devin talking about it too.
They're almost more excited talking about their families
and they're talking about themselves.
Listen, we talk about, even me, because I'm a box, man.
I thought about they don't fight, but they're different than us.
They pay more attention to their family than we did.
We were fighting too long too much to pay attention to our family.
That's another thing that's probably that didn't go right.
I'm fighting too long to really acknowledge my family, you know,
and you're going out there little by little,
you're getting poisoned by the world,
and you're distant yourself.
from your pants. So I can't
say, you know, but I didn't know the best
fighters came with the guys before the life. That's all
I know. Guys are the most
experienced or a better fight. Look at Pernell
he got like six hundred fights. What do you do with guys like this?
What do you do with the
Menianko? He got like a thousand ams.
What do you do with guys like? So he
wins the fights with two
amateurs with two pro fights. He had a
thousand pro-amiger fights. So
that equates to like 60
pro fights. Literally.
How do you, especially you're coming up in your pro career, a few fights in, you got a fight a guy with a thousand amateur fights, who lives, breathes, boxing all day, every day.
Exactly, I understand.
Unless you run into my situation when you're trained by a master, then that might be different.
Yeah.
There's not too many of those guys out there.
No, it wasn't.
I found the last one.
It was meant me.
He said he summoned me.
I was telling him, I can't believe I came in my life in Brooklyn, so bad.
I really appreciate it.
He said, no, I summoned you.
There's no coincidence.
He told me.
that. He said, I've summed you.
This is no coincidence.
He was into that mystic, you know.
No, there's nothing greater than that.
And the fulfillment he got, you know,
seeing you come up and through your amateur career
and become the man, the young man.
I tell you something.
I couldn't see it until I got older.
Imagine, see, imagine me.
Even Mike Tyson, I was seeing some young kids,
like some one of these little kids' cousins or something,
become a vicious savage chain,
like me making hundreds of millions of dollars and stuff.
He said, I saw Mike Tyson, let's fight and do this.
I wanted to be like that.
Wow.
You know, he's the kind of guy.
Like, listen, he turns into a big guy
doing commercials for Super Bowl.
He's taking up with the president any time he wants.
He's doing, you know, that's some guy.
That comes from filth, comes from scum.
You know what I mean?
Open up the refrigerator.
You see a soda or apple.
And you know what time it is.
And you could go to the president and see him any time.
You know what I mean?
You're very grateful to be your hands.
I was hanging out with the president.
You know what I mean?
He was a good man.
You know, before he was president.
He's a great man.
Now, there he is president.
It's just, that never changed.
I just love my life.
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But my favorite thing about prize picks is the injury reboots.
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Prize fix, it's good to be right.
Does there any advice you to give these amateur fighters fighting the microsevitational?
I could just give them the experience I had.
I don't know who's going to is.
You know, get a lot of fights, get experience, fight,
many fights you can't.
Let's go prepare you what you're going to do.
I listen, and to my trainer-custom model, right?
Everything, in the manual boxing, you got to do road work.
You're not doing road work.
It's a waste of time.
I'd rather you go and clean your room.
Your room is a mess.
You should clean your room.
road work. I'm in love with the romanticist of boxing, the road work, the bag work, the
train, and the sit of all that stuff. That's the romanticist side of the box. I love that. I'm in
love with that, so that's why I do it. That's the only reason I do it, not because, you know,
because my trainer says is bullshit. I just love boxing. I love everything about hitting the
bag. He used to love everything. I don't want to not run. So, yeah, that's the kind of where I come
So you're looking for young fighters, amateurs who have that same passion for boxing?
I'm looking for somebody. I'm looking for a nobody that wants to be somebody.
That's what I'm looking for.
That's powerful.
There's nothing greater than that.
Those are the best stories.
And if we can help kids, you know, get out of situations and really uplift them and give them a new identity and change lives.
That's what boxing's done for over 100 years.
I agree 100%.
It's not about anybody.
It's about your soul.
Your heart if you want to help these people.
You can hate my guts to want to help these kids and help these kids.
You know, like I said, I don't have the answer.
You know, the kids give me the answer.
You know, they give me the answer.
With their determination, they will, they give me the answer.
That's beautiful.
We got an award for Richard Stills, the Will is Still Award.
And that's because Richard still, you know, he stood by these kids in his gym,
so hard four-footed up and everything.
with this will of steel.
And that's probably going to honor him with that.
I love that.
A little award show and, yeah, and to honor someone like that.
I always look for listening to when I was a young box,
I don't know if there's any young boxers in the Amateur.
We get the trophy of the Year Award, the Trophy of the Night Award,
outstanding fighter.
All the fighters, all the fighters, all the little kids,
we walk by that, arrogant, and we win that tonight.
Right, you know, the guy's fighting right next,
I'm winning that tonight.
And the guy said, no, you're not, I'm winning that.
No, you're not.
I'm winning.
Guys are coming to say, I'm winning it tonight.
I'm winning and I'm beating them, knocking everybody.
Everybody's talking shit about the outstanding trophy.
I'm winning it, no, I'm winning it tonight.
That's what I, I don't know, I hope they did.
That's what we did.
You know, like sometimes I look at fights, right?
Like, we were amateurs, but sometimes we have chance we may
can go to some amateur fights, some international fights,
or maybe go some professional fights,
and we would go like this.
We see some professional fights,
and that be a little bit heavy.
Oh, man, I'm going to get ripped, man,
I'm gonna get ripped, I'm gonna be ripped,
I have my clothes on.
They don't do that no more, do that.
They don't see a constant, oh, I'm waiting here to go.
I'm gonna be ripped when I go there.
I'm gonna go to concert to be ripped.
I don't, they don't think like that no more, you know.
You always thought about ripped, working out hard, I'm ripped.
Look at me, I'm ripped in the ring.
I'm gonna look ripped in the ring.
I'm gonna look at, I'm just a clown.
You know, that's what I think about,
when I think about boxing, how I'm gonna look, you know.
So, to be the best boxing in the world,
you have to, um, I'm just,
I don't know, they call it harm nasties.
You have to love yourself the most.
The best fighter in the world love himself the most.
He may not act in the stuff,
but he loves himself the most.
Those are the greatest fighters at all time.
Any other awards besides that one
that we're gonna give to the kids?
Oh yeah, we're other one,
but that was the main one.
Yeah.
That they're gonna be looking for it.
Hopefully they're all kind of, you know,
competing to get that award
and they're arguing with each other
who's gonna win it and bring that spirit back.
Friendly argument.
Some of them are not friendly.
Some of them are not friendly.
I'm talking, they talk.
disrespect. I'm knocking everybody
out. How can I not get it?
I love it. Yeah. I talk a lot of
crap too. That's the energy we need.
Yeah, really. Determinating.
I think when the tennis plays come out,
I think they should play their music they won.
You know, I don't think you should always be the
kings, the queens,
English or anything. We should
all play that makes us play better.
That made them play better. She should come out with the music
like to fight through stuff in tennis.
Yeah, your daughter, Malam. She's a great tennis player.
You're not the only champ in your family.
Well, one.
They should be a chance.
She has to watch me to understand how the champs to conduct themselves.
Yeah, yeah.
But she will be a champ one day, yes.
You're passionate by young tennis players too, right?
We want to see them be the best, too.
This is why I realized I'm 60 years old.
I'm not going to be here much, though.
I have to get something back.
I want them to have to get something back.
You know, I have to get something bad.
You know what I mean?
You have to get something bad.
Something.
Something.
Something bad.
You teach children to be valuable.
You know what I mean?
They become, they become wealthy because they're valuable,
not because they're rich, you know.
And that's what values.
We have to teach them value, self-value.
Once they have self-value, they have self-independent.
They don't need me anymore.
If we can give some kids some self-value this weekend,
this will give themselves value.
Yeah, that's an amazing cause.
This is something that they could do without anybody helping them.
You know, they don't need somebody to help them
from a school bully or anything.
This is something.
that they can handle themselves,
they've been doing it over and over again,
the end of the clothes and the car.
Imagine being that person
that can just dictate your home life.
It's very difficult for a person to understand.
This is just the beginning of learning to be independent.
It's just the beginning.
One day his coach is going to be sick.
He can't come.
So he might die.
He can't come.
But he still have to go to that,
to make that walk like you said.
Still got to go to that tournament
and win that medal or that trophy.
That's what this teaches them,
discipline.
And imagine how proud they're going to be.
be to win a trophy.
You won't forget that.
Especially when they're in the box of the world,
they're friends and then to coach gym together.
They're talking so much stuff.
Oh, on social media, everything.
Oh, I forgot that.
Look at the trophy.
Outstanding Fighter, social media.
Everybody else is a punks.
You know?
Oh, I forgot about this stuff.
I'm still back in the 80s.
Right now, I'm thinking about 80.
There's a whole new level now.
Especially with Haney and Garcia.
I mean, they're going to be going at it.
And it's streaming.
the zone has it
some other people are streamed
it's going to be like the biggest
amateur competition since the Olympics
probably surpassed the Olympics
now we got a way bigger
surpassed the Olympic
they could kick us out the Olympics
but we still have this
you know Mike Tyson invitation
we got all the young kids watching
and then they'll become boxing
and then they'll become boxing
and grow us and guys like
Roberta around would take our teams
and fight all over the world that would take us
anybody that would take us
all over the world they get their team to
fight their team. It's keep team after team.
Team. I love it. Man, they're doing
that for all the time. This week
we go there, maybe next week, we go ahead. We do it
weekly, every two weeks, monthly, but we get it down. Let's figure it out.
You know? It's a guy with a travel world.
Team Tyson versus the world.
Team Tyson versus Ram, Team Tyson versus
Panama, Robertaire. Team Tyson versus
Russia. Team Tyson versus Scotland. Stuff like that.
And how proud of these young kids going to be to represent
their countries? Listen, how proud of they're going to be
to be able to travel and see the world at the
young age.
You know,
I know guys only traveled the world
when they was in the team.
They never did it with their parents
or nothing.
They never had money.
Only with their team.
That's the only thing.
You know, only with their team.
Then they went home and became something else
because they still never traveled the plane
since my kids.
You know, it's just,
and they've seen the world and been,
some of them gets married.
They just,
it just changes them 100%
when they see the world.
Brand new life experiences.
This is exactly what the young kids
need, especially if the Olympics are on the way out.
Now we have a way to represent their country
and travel the world.
100%. Listen, if you don't want, listen, if you don't want
to put our kids in the Olympics,
we'll fight all the kids. We'll fight all the kids
that want to. We have our little Junior Olympics, and we
have it, like you say, in different
countries and different years. We can have it,
different months, whatever. We're going to make our own
time. Just fight everybody in the world.
And everybody could be with us, too. We're not looking
to oust nobody. You know,
if anybody wants to be USA, Bosnia,
They write us and whatever.
We can get on.
I want everybody to be involved,
but this is going to leave the biggest stuff in the world.
You've got your arms open,
whoever wants to help the kids.
I don't want nobody to say,
I'm trying to take anything from me,
but I'm trying to kick anybody out.
We've got to do this together.
This is for the kids.
They have nothing to do with us.
I put my ego out through Mike Tyson and my team.
There's nothing without everybody's help.
It's all about the greater good.
So if anyone can help, you accept it.
If they can't do the greater good for kids,
then they're not living their life.
They're not doing this for children.
They must be something for themselves.
That's just the truth.
They must want to sell things, some distance for the kids.
I don't take no money.
I'm having to come out of my pocket.
You know, if they don't want to do that stuff,
they don't care about the kids.
This is for the kid.
That's not about no ego, no organization.
I don't want no business.
I don't need that business.
I least for kids, you know.
If they don't want to support it, you can make a bigger event
and work with the zone and all these great people and streamers
and social media and just make it bigger than it's ever been.
God willing, you know, God willing.
Anybody, I don't know, we'll see God willing.
Yeah, God willing, if all hands are on deck and we're open.
All hands are on deck.
Yeah.
All hands are on deck.
No, it's amazing.
And I'm proud to be here.
I can't lose.
I'm proud to be here too with you, Bob.
Thank you.
Thank you.
It was an honor to interview you, and I'm really excited to watch these fights this weekend.
Thank you, brother.
Thank you.
45 years ago, legendary trainer Cus DeMato,
a young kid from Brownsville Brooklawn.
Previously, Cuzz had trained Floyd Patterson
to be the youngest heavyweight champion
in the history of the sport at that time.
After this, he taught, trained, and willed Mike Tyson
to be the youngest heavyweight champion
in the history of the sport when in 1986 he defeated Trevor Burbock.
Two years later, Tyson would defeat Michael Spank
staking his claim to be the undisputed champ.
Now it's 2026, and we're here
at the inaugural Mike Tyson Invitational.
And to me, this is Mike's greatest achievement, embodying the spirit of his legendary trainer,
Cus Damato.
He's passing down the same gift that he had gotten as a kid.
And I know firsthand from growing up in a boxing gym how important it is to get into the sport of boxing.
It teaches you confidence, discipline, and respect that nothing else can replicate.
Please, if you can, support the Mike Tyson Invitational and any other amateur boxing clubs in your area.
This episode is dedicated to the legends, Cus DeMoto.
and my first boxing trainer Carlos Panama Lewis.
Rest and peace to two legends.
