Mike Tyson has been an incredibly successful boxing player because of his great technique, work ethic, talent, and dedication. However, his success also came for his fondness for street fighting.
The former boxing champion was coached by some of the world’s finest boxing coaches. However, he gives a lot of credit for his success to over 150 brawls he got into during his growing up years.
He grew up in one of New York City’s roughest neighborhoods, Brownsville, Brooklyn. In the seventies, when he was growing up, Brooklyn became infamous for its drug use and violent incidents.
The former champion revealed in the past that he was drawn toward criminal acts quite early in life. The player was arrested for thirty-eight times by the time he was just 13-year-old. Tyson often robbed folks in his neighborhood, as well as loved the company of an older crowd, which encouraged him to behave badly.
His rugged upbringing resulted in getting involved in many fighting incidents early in his life. Tyson was naturally good at fighting even when he was a kid. He had earlier opened up about how he became notorious in his neighborhood for beating young people when he was only 11-year-old.
The former champ gives credit for his professional success to those nonstop fighting incidents he had during his early years. Tyson also said that getting into fist-fights had become a way of life for him in one of his podcast episodes titled Hotboxin.
Mike Tyson also admitted to being involved in more than 100 street-fights even before he started to be a part of the professional boxing circuit. He acknowledged having been involved in more than one hundred and fifty street fights.
The former champ feels perhaps that is the reason why he did well in boxing. Sugar Ray Leonard, a special guest in his podcast, queried him about what his most memorable punch had been while he was a professional boxing player.
Tyson said that although he preferred to use his right hand, his left hand had knocked out more rival players. Although many people who watch the sport feel that only physical energy is involved in it, there are other aspects in it too, according to the former champion.
Tyson feels that fighting involves a spiritual experience wherein a player does not think consciously. He feels boxing is all about reacting and movement, Showbiz Cheat Sheet reports.
While Mike Tyson has often grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons, there is no doubt that he is one of the all-time best boxing players in the world.