Mike Tyson‘s journey from a troubled kid to boxing legend is a story of grit, glory, and heartbreak-especially when it comes to the loss of his mentor, Cus D’Amato. As fans still dissect his legacy post-Jake Paul fight, Joe Rogan‘s take on Tyson’s life after D’Amato’s 1985 death sheds light on a painful truth that lingers. The champ’s rise was meteoric, but losing his father figure at 19 left scars that shaped his chaotic downfall.
Rogan, on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast (#2278 with Chase Hughes), painted a vivid picture of Tyson’s transformation under D’Amato. “He wins the title when Cus had already been dead,” Rogan said. “But then defends it-he was unstoppable, so much better than everybody else. But slowly, up until the Buster Douglas fight, you see this deterioration of his discipline.”
D’Amato, who died of pneumonia just before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champ at 20, was more than a coach-he was the anchor who turned a reckless teen into a focused beast. Without him, Tyson admitted to feeling lost, once telling All the Smoke Boxing, “I’m not gonna fight no more if you die,’ he said ‘You better fight, or I’m gonna haunt you.'”
Joe Rogan breaks down the impact
That haunting seems real. Tyson carried D’Amato’s casket as a pallbearer, later confessing he felt “empty inside.” Rogan nailed it: after the 1986 title win, Tyson’s life unraveled-discipline faded, Don King entered, and the 1990 Douglas upset marked a turning point.
The hypnosis D’Amato used from age 13, molding Tyson into a “savage, intelligent animal,” couldn’t hold without his guidance. “Cus took this 13-year-old kid and showed him love through accomplishment,” Rogan noted, highlighting how that void fueled Tyson’s struggles-legal troubles, controversies, and all.
Yet, there’s redemption in this tale. Tyson’s reflected on D’Amato’s spark-to-blaze philosophy, saying on Hotboxin’, “He made me believe I could be somebody.” Today, at 58, he’s found peace, a far cry from the chaos post-Cus. Rogan’s verdict? Tyson was a phenom derailed by loss, but his resilience shines through. Fans, this is the real Mike Tyson-not just the knockouts, but the man haunted by a mentor’s absence, still fighting to honor that legacy.
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