Iron Ambition: Lessons I've Learned from the Man Who Made Me a Champion

Description

The story of the relationship between the most devastating heavyweight boxer in history and the mentor who made him. When legendary boxing trainer Cus D'Amato saw thirteen-year-old Mike Tyson spar in the ring, he proclaimed 'That's the heavyweight champion of the world'. D'Amato played a huge role in Tyson's formative years, legally adopting him at age sixteen, and shaping him both physically and mentally after years of living in poverty. He would train the young boxer for several years, dying just months before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. In Iron Ambition, Tyson shares the life lessons that D'Amato passed down to him and reflects on how the trainer's words of wisdom continue to resonate with him outside the ring. The book also chronicles Cus's courageous fight against the mobsters who controlled boxing, revealing more than we've ever know about this singular cultural figure.

Mike Tyson is the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and the first boxer ever to hold the three biggest belts in prizefighting - the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight titles - simultaneously. Tyson's enduring appeal has launched him into a career in entertainment: he was a standout in the blockbuster films The Hangover and The Hangover Part II, and recently he has earned tremendous acclaim for his one-man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth. Tyson has launched a clothing company, Roots of Fight, and Tyrrhanic Productions, which currently has several film projects in development. In 2011 he was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Kiki, and their children. Larry "Ratso" Sloman is best known as Howard Stern's collaborator on Private Parts and Miss America. Sloman's recent collaborations include Mysterious Stranger, with magician David Blaine; Scar Tissue, the memoir of Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis; and Undisputed Truth with Mike Tyson. His biography of Houdini, The Secret Life of Houdini, is soon to be a major motion picture for Lionsgate. miketyson.com @miketyson

Compelling . . . Loaded with anecdotes about the mob, a series of fights (not just those featuring Tyson), American life in the Seventies and Eighties, this is a great read for fans of boxing as well as those who enjoy the smell and sound of authenticity to their sporting titles. And there's plenty of it * Bristol Post *