The two guys in my profile pic maybe, I know that Tyson was in reform school when D`Amato stepped up and became his father figure and mentor at the age of 12, he grew up in a rough part of Brooklyn.
Matthew Saad Muhammad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Saad_Muhammad "Saad Muhammad's mother died when he was an infant,[1] and he and his elder brother were sent to live with an aunt. When he was five, his aunt could not afford to look after both of them and she instructed his brother to get rid of him. His brother took him to Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway and then ran away. Saad Muhammad was taken in by Catholic Social Services. The nuns gave him the name Matthew Franklin (after the saint and the parkway where he was found). Matthew lived in foster care until a couple from Philadelphia adopted him, raised him, and took care of him like he was their own.[2] Saad Muhammad was very popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s among boxing fans because of his particularly action-oriented style. Saad Muhammad was known for his ability to take punishment and mount comebacks, and because of this, he was nicknamed Miracle Matthew."
MSM is a great call. I’d also add Johnny Tapia to this discussion. Mother was kidnapped, raped, repeatedly stabbed and left for dead.
Unfortunately, it did to Matthew as well. I think he died in a homeless shelter. One of the few times i have teared up when reading about a boxer. Hope he finds happiness in an afterlife. Out of all the athletes i have ever seen, he deserved a happy life more than anyone else. RIP.
Tapia’s mother was stabbed 26 times with scissors and a screwdriver, according to the police report. Young Johnny was awakened by her screams and looked out his window to see her being driven off chained in the back of a pickup truck. If that doesn’t mess you up for life ... well, there’s no getting around it. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/sports/johnny-tapia-champion-boxer-amid-chaos-dies-at-45.html
Tommy Farr's early years were beyond anything Charles Dickens could have invented. His Father died when he was a boy, in the First World War I think. Tommy started work in the coal mines at 12 years old to support his Sisters. Finding fighting easier than mining, he walked from South Wales to London at 16 to try to earn a living as a professional Boxer. Some of the South Americans had staggeringly tough up bringings. Reading about Sonny Liston's childhood makes you wince.
Kassim Ouma was a legit child soldier in Uganda: This content is protected Wasn't Barney Ross' dad shot dead in front of him during a robbery in Chicago? That's rough, although probably not as bad as what Ouma or Tapia went through.
God rest his soul and i hope he and his mother are reunited. To compound the horrific story i think the murderer of his mother was never found and johhny spent his life trying in vain to track the p.o.s down. I hope the p.o.s burns in hell. Tapia "s life and saads really break me down beyond words how sad
Tyson’s was the most tragic from an artistic point of perspective one of the saddest people period...