Would Tyson have been champion without D'Amato

Well said JT. Magoo mentioned at the top of the page in response to my post that Cus' did far more for Tyson than make him a champion.

I think we have to pause here. Although we should be absolutely positive that Cus took the rich raw materials that was Tyson and made a formidable fighting machine, he did not improve the emotional and spiritual disaster that was Tyson. Cus prepared Tyson for the ring, but he did not prepare Tyson for life.

Boxing is, finally, a character sport. Cus did talk about fear and self-belief and all that, but when it came down to actually helping the kid become as strong of a man as he was a boxer, was Cus successful?

I think that Cus "rescued" Mike in more ways than one. Writ large, he rescued him from becoming yet another waste product and a burden on society, sure. But he also rescued him in smaller, equally destructive ways -Cus rescued that adolescent from accountablity for his conduct. Tyson was allowed to continue to be irresponsible because Cus, like millions of Italian-American fathers, indulged his offspring. Cus injected meaning and purpose into Mike's life, but his Dr. Spock style of non-discipline only delayed the inevitable. Tyson would eventually self-destruct because the only thing really holding him together was loyalty to Cus. Cus died, and his assistants bought time, but when King chased them away by playing the race card, the restraints were torn off and he spiralled to his actual comfort zone. The rest is history.