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Mike Tyson

Iron Ambition: My Life with Cus D'Amato Paperback – May 22, 2018

by Mike Tyson (Author), Larry Sloman (Author)

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From the former heavyweight champion and New York Times–bestselling author comes a powerful look at the life and leadership lessons of Cus D’Amato, the legendary boxing trainer and Mike Tyson’s surrogate father.

"[Iron Ambition] spells out D'Amato's techniques for building a champion from scratch." – Wall Street Journal

When Cus D’Amato first saw thirteen-year-old Mike Tyson spar in the ring, he proclaimed, “That’s the heavyweight champion of the world.” D’Amato, who had previously managed the careers of world champions Floyd Patterson and José Torres, would go on to train the young Tyson and raise him as a son. D'Amato died a year before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
In Tyson’s bestselling memoir Undisputed Truth, he recounted the role D’Amato played in his formative years, adopting him at age sixteen after his mother died and shaping him both physically and mentally after Tyson had spent years living in fear and poverty. In Iron Ambition, Tyson elaborates on 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 known about this singular cultural figure.

Print length

496 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Blue Rider Press
Publication date

May 22, 2018
Dimensions

6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

052553363X
ISBN-13

978-0525533634
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“In this tender and disturbing hybrid of memoir and biography, former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson examines one of the most unusual characters in boxing history…. Tyson’s love for Cus D’Amato is more than apparent, but it doesn’t lead him to downplay his teacher’s myriad faults.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The boxing champion, infamous for biting and beating, reveals his soft side in this memoir of his longtime mentor and trainer.... [Tyson] writes respectfully and affectionately [about Constantine 'Cus' D'Amato], though some of the old toughness hangs on.... A belated but welcome homage to a boxing legend who died shortly before Tyson's career took off. Fans of the sweet science will want to have a look."
—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Blue Rider Press; Reprint edition (May 22, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 052553363X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0525533634
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #89,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Boxer Biographies
- #35 in Boxing (Books)
- #4,020 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
315 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

315 global ratings

5 star		88%
4 star		7%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Oren T. Bergfald

A Wonderful Publication…!!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

Learning about Cus D’Amato was a fascinating journey. It appeared, that Cus’s influence on Mike Tyson came from the “old professional fight school” back in the 1940’s. I look forward to reading this book again. Being exposed to the career of Floyd Patterson, while being trained by Cus, was a honor which will not be soon forgotten… 🥊📿 💰🥊📿💰

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 16, 2021

Verified Purchase

My husband said he added a book to the amazon cart and I thought, here we go...another book that he won't read that will just sit there. Boy was I wrong, he can't put it down. He literally is like a kid hiding under covers at night who falls asleep reading...only he's not under the covers, and there isn't a flashlight. He's stopped reading so many times to tell me things in the book, that I now want to read it. If you're a spiritual person, get ready to be surprised at just how much that ties into this book, and his life. I have a greater respect and understanding now of Mike Tyson just from seeing the impact this book has made on my husband in just the short time we've had this book. 10/10 Recommend.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Its a manual on how greatness achieved.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is the first REAL book on cus damato, both his work with mike as well as an extremely detailed account of his life fighting the mob while taking patterson to the title. This is a must read. As a fan of tyson and of cus, ive been waiting 20 years for this book to be written... ever since reading about how cus wanted jose torres to write his story about how cus turned mike into a champion. Well, that book was never written. Instead, torres wrote Fire and Fear, which was NOT what cus had intended. This is the book cus wanted written about himself. This is his legacy. Mike has proven himself to be cus' most dedicated and most valuable student. First he won the title, fulfilling cus' final prediction, and now, 30 years after his death, mike has written a biography WORTHY of cus to ensure his legacy lasts forever. Thanks for writing this book, mike. Its not just that it teaches us about cus, but about his beliefs and methods regarding how to transform a weak person into a strong one. This is a book the world needs.

40 people found this helpful

Helpful

JG

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

Can go wrong with any book from Mike Tyson about his personal life and experiences!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

gerd

... Tyson is an extraordinary man who never ceases to amaze me. He's one of the most awesome individuals ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 31, 2017

Verified Purchase

Mike Tyson is an extraordinary man who never ceases to amaze me. He's one of the most awesome individuals to ever lace on gloves. Like many great boxers he hit the skids, went to jail and lost it all. But then, incredibly and almost unbelievably, he rose from the ashes like the Phoenix and became the upstanding man he is today. Tyson is a good writer who tells how Cus D'Amato rescued him from the mean streets of New York and a dismal future and helped him become a fighter and a man. The story gets a little bogged down in the telling of D'Amato's trials and run-ins with Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo and the mob who controlled boxing in the 1950's. But it's a good read with lots of good anecdotes about D'Amato's relationships with Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Alex Puchniarz

Very good book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

Loved this book and Mike Tyson's last book as well. I have always wanted to hear more details about Cus D'Amato and this scratched that itch perfectly. Can't wait to read more from this amazing person.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

This book can help you.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book serves as not only an interesting account of D'Amato's life and work, but as a learning tool. In reading about D'Amato, you learn his techniques for building someone up mentally, (many great quotes). You can absorb everything in this book for personal use, it really does double as the kind of thing someone reads to better themselves and their way of life. I hope I articulated what I'm trying to get across with this review, but point is, you don't need to be an aspiring fighter to gain anything from reading this. This, in my opinion, is required reading for those of us searching for ways to build mental strength.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Richard H. Place

Thanks Mike and Ratso

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book is one of those very rare special ones, that you can't stand to put down. It will have you up at night. Amazing lessons and stories on topics spanning the punic wars, hypnosis, mob death threats, to the psychology of Eric Hoffer. This is not some theoretical BS self help book, its the real life story of the blueprint of champions. As another reviewer stated, it is a manual on the achievement of greatness.

If reading this book doesn't have an effect on your life, there is something wrong with you. Your a bum.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer

Incredible read, Iron Mike Tyson talking about his upbringing ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

Incredible read, Iron Mike Tyson talking about his upbringing and his life with Cus D'Amato. What more could you want?

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

👍

Zishan Amin

Everyone needs a Cus D'Amato in their life

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 19, 2020

Verified Purchase

The book can be separated in two parts. One part of the story is detailing how Mike came to meet Cus D'Amato and their life there after. The other details Cus' story prior to Mike which touches on his upbringing w/ his family, his life as a trainer, and most importantly how he went head to head with the Mob.

His stories with Mike are captivating while the stories surrounding his battles with the Mob feel dragged out. Unfortunately, a big chunk of the middle of the book is dedicated to this.

Regardless, Cus is a legend and one of the most influential figures in all of boxing history. He drops gems left, right and center. My favorite line of his being "A man who is able to do what needs to be done, no matter how he feels within, is a professional". Great read even if the middle feels cluttered.

Harkesh Kumar

Used Book

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on January 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

The book has dull look. Seems like used book, wasn't expecting this sort of book. The inclination to read has drastically decreased by the appearance of the book.