Boxing icon Mike Tyson admitted that he learned the “ultimate knockout punch” technique from legendary former trainer Cus D’Amato.
Tyson, 53, is widely regarded as one of the most destructive and feared KO artists in boxing history.
And ‘Iron’ Mike, who notched up 44 KO victories from 58 fights, has credited the art of his punching technique to D’Amato.
During his Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson episode, Tyson told Sugar Ray Leonard that the art behind punching is “when you can throw two punches that sound like one.”
The ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ explained: “I learned from the master, Cus D’Amato. He was my mentor.
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“He was throwing punches, throwing combinations. And the art of punching is when you can throw two punches that sound like one.
“Anyone here who understands the art of fighting knows what I’m saying. Two punches that sound like one.
“Do you know how magnificent your punches have to be to sound like that? The ultimate knockout puncher.”
Sugar Ray, 63, quipped back at Tyson: “The ultimate knockout punch. Don’t get hit by that!”
D’Amato, who passed away in 1985, was instrumental in training a young Tyson into one of the most ferocious boxers in the 1980s.
However, the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ previously admitted that he was “petrified” of D’Amato.
He explained in 2017’s Iron Ambition: My Life with Cus D’Amato: “I was petrified when I was alone with him.
“If he called me — ‘Mike, I need to talk to you’ — I didn’t feel good going over to him.
“That’s when he’d start giving me his detailed criticisms of my fights.”
Tyson’s episode with Sugar Ray also went viral for the living legend saying that he felt vulnerable after his boxing career and how he feared his old persona returning.
