Did Cus D'Amato ever see Tyson as anything other than a fighter?

I think he saw him like a son. If Mike saw him as special. so does Cus about Mike. I always thought, if someone likes someone in life, chances are the other person feels the same. That is how relationships work. If Mike thought Cus only saw him as a boxer, I doubt he would have respected him the way he did.

 

An old man nearing 80 sees a young teenage kid as a son, you don't think that weird?

 

It wasn't exactly a normal situation was it but Tyson sees the man as a god now so it can't have been that bad. As for Tyson being abused by those old guys I'd find it hard to picture lol. Tyson seems like one of those affectionate guys to me, with the kissing stuff, was always hugging people etc. Had the tradition of kissing Rooney before a fight. They really did seem like a family of unit. Sure it was good for him compared to what could have been.

I think Tyson is one of those self destructive people, he had the stability and support to be a great fighter but I think he would have gone off the rails anyway even if cus lived, the writing was on the wall, cus never had full control of mike. You can only blame mike, at some point he probably would have messed it up.

As for cus's true feelings who knows, he did take kids in anyway so no reason to belive he wouldn't have taking Tyson under his wing even if he wasn't a big success. But having that reason to be excited about life again at that age, must have been a powerful thing. Corners were definitely cut...

 

I cannot judge something like that. A son a grandson yeah why not? Why not see someone and like him and want to help him. What are relationships. A good friendship has nothing to do with age.

 

Cus has had a bad rap over the years for me. Dont think their was any funny business going on with any of them tbh. Tyson was just pretty much an unloved kid who was crying out for attention. Seems wierd to most normal folk that had a decent upbringing...but look at most kids in care their all crying out for attention. Tyson wasnt in care but by the sound of things he pretty much should or could have been. The kissing etc...was just like a hug to most folk. But because tyson was so affectionate probably because he was crying out for some love they took it a step further. I dont think it was a gay thing at all. Seems wierd to most folk including myself. But people are only really looking at it from their own perspective. Kids like tyson have been subject to a lot in their lives abuse etc. Probably more than the human mind of a child can really deal with. They then need to overcompensate to feel that love thats been lacking. Thats why their kissing him as opposed to a pat on the back.

If that was a gay thing the chances are it wouldnt have been seen by any cameras in full view of everyone.

I think cus was an old guy obsessed with boxing. He pretty much was an obsessive. And it pretty much consumed him. Even more so than sex with anyone by the looks of it. He was an eccentric but their was definetely genius in there somewhere. Personally think tyson would probably have fell even if cus lived on tho. People move in when fame comes around. Although tyson listened and respected cus...tyson was still at the heart of it pretty easy to influence. When the money came round...the real vultures usually move in. Like they did...and before long tyson would have been on the downward slope.

I do think out of anyone cus held the key to keeping tyson on the straight and narrow tho. He was such a control freak....i dont think he would have let tyson fall anywhere near as far as he did. Cus was just a very flawed guy....still think he was decent at the heart of it tho. Obviously tyson was an answer he needed but he did grow to love him like a son through it.