Andrew Leisengang

ENGW1111
Dr. Tabitha Clark
Profile Draft
26 February 2021

Tyson vs. Himself

Sweat beads dashed across Tyson’s face as the pressure of avenging his hero

Muhammad Ali and making his coach and mentor, Cus’Damato, proud from beyond the grave.

Along with the weight of this, Tyson had contracted Gonorrhea and his body was on the verge of

failure due to a fever and a crushing sensation in his head. All this pain meant nothing because

Tyson had the will power of a tiger and the motivation to kill in the ring.

“Judgment Day,” November 22, 1986. Mike Tyson would fight Trevor Berbick for the

WBC heavyweight title. Berbick was the fighter who had beat Muhammad Ali in his last

professional fight and Tyson sought revenge. In December of 2020 in an interview with Zeb

Judah, Judah asks Tyson if he was going for revenge and Tyson confirms saying, “100% yes, no

doubt about it....I was going to kill him.” The mindset of the young boxer stemmed heavily from

his coach Constantine “Cus” D'Amato. From the age of 13 Cus D'Amato imprinted the ideas of

success and competitiveness that were almost inhumane. Cus D'Amato acted like a drill sergeant

towards Tyson and while this resulted in an almost perfect fighter, Tyson was living as a

reflection of the ego that was programmed from his youth. So, in his mind when he was given

the opportunity to take revenge on Berbick, Tyson crushed any chance Berbick had of winning.

Tyson quickly struck and knocked Berbick down ending the first round. Then Berbick lasted a

measly two and a half minutes after Tyson nailed his face with a combination of punches causing

Berbick to fall. When he tried to stand up, he tripped over his feet and fell again leading to a
technical knockout. Mike was speaking years later on the fight in the documentary “Tyson” and

said, “I wanted to decimate him.... I wanted to take him on one round. I wanted to really hurt him

real bad.” This fight exhibited the lengths Tyson would go to win and the determination he had

to be the best. However, through his language and ideas toward winning one can see that his

professionalism towards boxing created a toxic way of thinking about life.

An advertisement for the Berbick vs Tyson fight

America was built on racist ideals and these ideologies carried over into sports, so when

Jack Johnson became the first black heavy-weight champion in 1908 many people were

disgusted and compared the fight as being “white vs black.” He was viewed as an image of black

power and as an inspiration to many black people. His image overtime didn’t hold the same

weight as it had when he had won “until the rise of Muhammad Ali -- who recognized many
similarities between himself and Johnson -- and the arrival of the Black Power era that his career

and achievements became more widely appreciated, not just for his sporting prowess but for his

trailblazing success in an era when racism was widespread and commonplace.” Unlike some

other acclaimed black athletes, Johnson and Ali embraced being black and showed pride in their

race. Ali greatly impacted Tyson and was a major inspiration towards him. Their first interaction

was when Tyson was in a detention center for robbery at 13 years old. The lack of representation

of black men in boxing led to Tyson not having a distinct role model to look up to, until he met

Ali. On the sport radio show “The Fanatic” with Mike Missanelli Tyson describes his first

encounter with Ali saying, “we watched a movie first, and then he came in. It was totally

overwhelming. I had never in my life experienced that feeling before, that particular stage of my

life. It inspired me to want to go truly in that direction (professionally boxing)." Tyson was

inspired by how successful a black man could be in the boxing industry. His interest in Ali

extended to him learning about Johnson who also held a big part on his career. In an interview

with talkSport radio Tyson said, “I admired him (Jack Johnson) because he really stood his

ground.... black people were being killed for looking at white women during that time and he

married three of them.” These leaders not only inspired Mike’s profession, but also propelled

him towards activism in the black community. When Colin Kaepernick started the kneeling

movement to bring awareness for the inequalities in the black community, Tyson posted a photo

on twitter kneeling in solidarity with Kaepernick, advocating just as his role models had done.
Photo Tyson posted on Twitter to show his support for the fight against racism.

Mike Tyson strove to be the best in his sport and was programmed at a young age to

disregard any ethical beliefs to accomplish feats in boxing. These ideas were implanted in

Tyson’s head by his coach Constantine “Cus” D’Amato. Tyson was introduced to Cus as a

broken child with no self-confidence. Cus built him up from nothing and created a mindset and

ego that were winning, but inhumane. D'Amato was a perfectionist who trained Tyson to be an

unmatched champion. He told Tyson from the first moment he met him that he would be the

heavy weight champion and he would be so great that others would be named after him. This
instilled a toxic mentality for Mike who would view his opponents as roadblocks that needed to

be eliminated. Tyson also discusses in a documentary “Tyson” "that older boxers had (his) mind

framed such as Harry Greb, Mickey Walker and those kind of guys. These guys lived the kind of

life, they didn't care about anything. They had one objective and that was to win, and I just

wanted to win.” The reinforcement of these ideas led to Tyson having a cutthroat mindset that

was animalistic in nature. This behavior was praised in the media and as an athlete he was

considered to be gifted because of this mindset. However, in any other situation he would be

deemed mentally ill and would need help to correct his way of thinking. In a fight against Evader

Holyfield Tyson went as far as biting off Holyfield’s ear. Later in an interview with Fox News

Tyson explains, “I bit him because I wanted to kill him. I was really mad about my head being

bumped and everything. I really lost consciousness of the whole fight. It took me out of my fight

plan and everything.” Mike Tyson had accomplished being a champion, but at the cost of

eliminating morals and having his ego rule his life.

In May of 2019 Tyson wanted to change his destructive behavior and decided to take

DMT, Dimethyltryptamine, which is an anciently used psychedelic medicine. The experience

changed Tyson’s perspective on life and his addictions were cured. In July of 2019, Tyson

interviewed with the famous boxer Sugar Ray, Tyson said, “I'm in the best shape of my life....

I’m talking psychological, spiritual shape. Respectful of my family, my wife. I would never

cheat on her again.” Tyson then goes on to speak on his addictions saying that after his

psychedelic experience all his perverse addictions and desires regarding sex, cocaine, and

alcohol ceased to exist. In another interview with Joe Rogan Tyson describes how his ego was

dissolving as he was growing spiritually. He says to Rogan, “(After Cus D'Amato came into my
life) My ego took over.... (I believed) I’m Mike Tyson, I’m the best that ever lived and all this

bullshit.... (I believed) I’d be nothing without my ego.... now I’ve realized if I reactivate my ego,

I’m gonna lose in life....I smoked this medicine, drug, whatever you want to call it. And I’ve

never been the same. I look at life different, I look at people differently.” The growth in Tyson

after his professional boxing career has been astronomical. Tyson is in touch with his spiritual

side and has become aware of the impact of his actions and the importance of loving yourself

and others.

Art portraying Tyson’s spiritual experience

done by ESPN.com

Looking past Tyson’s

accomplishments in the ring such

as being the youngest boxer to win

the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at 20 years old. Tyson has also become involved with

charity work to help prevent kids from having to go through what he did growing up. The

mission statement of his organization is, "Mike Tyson Cares is committed to giving people living

in lower income communities a fighting chance at a better way of life by aligning initiatives with

established local charities and organizations that embody these values. our efforts will provide

footings for community-based charities and programs by raising funds and awareness. We

contribute monetary donations to various programs around the world. These programs focus

on providing services to the homeless, building educational programs, fighting social injustice,
and enabling prison reform." On top of the work done in his organization he also returned in

the ring to fight Roy Jones Jr. and had all the proceeds be donated to various charities. Tyson

has blossomed into a caring and loving individual who seeks to spread the happiness and love

he has found with others.

Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. after their charity fight
 Works Cited:

Deepak Tyson. “MikeTyson Talks about Cus D’Amato / RECOVERY & SELF ESTEEM w/

#Eminem.” YouTube, 21 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0GHYUt7PhA.

ESPN. “Mike Tyson on Smoking DMT: ‘Do You Understand the Toad?’ | The Art of

Conversation w/ Dan Le Batard.” YouTube, 8 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?

v=jYcnaYEzX7Y.

Fitzgerald, Matt. “Mike Tyson Says He Was on Drugs in Major Fights, Reveals How He Passed

Tests.” Bleacher Report, 3 Oct. 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/1847985-mike-tyson-

says-he-was-on-drugs-in-major-fights-reveals-how-he-passed-tests.

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Gonzalez.” YouTube, 23 Feb. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J2SCbP15PM.

Ouzounian, Richard. “By the Time He Was 13, Mike Tyson Had Been Arrested 38 Times.”

Thespec.Com, 29 Feb. 2020, www.thespec.com/sports/2014/08/01/by-the-time-he-was-

13-mike-tyson-had-been-arrested-38-times.html.

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Hutchinson, John. “Mike Tyson Takes the Knee for Black Lives Matter Movement as His Proud

Sons Post Messages of Support.” The US Sun, 9 June 2020, www.the-

sun.com/sport/953033/mike-tyson-takes-knee-black-lives-matter-george-floyd.

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---. “Mike Tyson First Met Muhammad Ali In Juvie.” Deadspin, 17 June 2013,

deadspin.com/mike-tyson-first-met-muhammad-ali-in-juvie-5877327.

Mannion, Damian. “Jack Johnson Became the First Black Heavyweight Champion of the World,

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talksport.com/sport/boxing/769721/jack-johnson-black-heavyweight-champion-

muhammad-ali-mike-tyson-boxing-record.
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