Mike Tyson on the Coach Who Changed His Life

Summary

Youth Inc. with Greg Olsen – Mike Tyson on the Coach Who Changed His Life
Episode Summary – July 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this powerhouse episode of Youth Inc., host Greg Olsen sits down with legendary heavyweight champion Mike Tyson to explore the vital role of youth sports, the current crossroads in American amateur athletics, and—most poignantly—the transformative impact of a coach who believes in you when you don’t yet believe in yourself. Tyson recounts his gritty journey through amateur boxing, the mentorship of Cus D’Amato, and his passionate mission to give back to the sport and save amateur boxing for the next generation.

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Key Highlights & Discussion Points

1. Tyson’s Youth Invitational Event in Las Vegas

(01:07 – 03:39)

• Free Access and Global Exposure:

  • Tyson’s invitational amateur boxing event at the Sahara, Las Vegas, flies in kids from around the world—free of charge (01:32).
  • “No one’s going to take any money out of anybody’s pocket to come here.” (01:32, Mike Tyson)

• Emulating Tyson’s Own Journey:

  • Tyson shares memories of traveling as a teenager to tournaments nationwide—fighting and gaining “so much experience in life” (01:32).
  • Aspires to give young fighters the global exposure he credits for shaping his career.
  • “That’s what happened to me and that’s why I became Mike Tyson. They should have that opportunity...” (01:32, Mike Tyson)

• Dream: Renew the Spirit of Olympic Boxing:

  • Expresses concern that amateur boxing may be removed from the Olympics.
  • Pushes for increased activity—at least four major annual tournaments—to keep the sport alive and produce future champions (03:10).

2. The Early Days—Tyson’s Teenage Circuit

(04:24 – 06:00)

• Relentless Competition and Growth:

  • Tyson reminisces about fighting in multiple states each week, traveling extensively for bouts: “Five fights within that whole year period. Just constantly fighting…Rhode Island, Utah, Tokyo, Japan, Finland, Russia…” (04:24)
  • The combination of competition and life experience expanded his perspective far beyond Brooklyn and Manhattan.

• Formative Losses:

  • A pivotal loss at 15 against an older opponent taught him resilience.
    • “I cried from Rhode island to Catskill, New York. And that fight made me such a better fighter.” (05:27, Mike Tyson)

3. Age and Competition Structure

(05:53 – 06:14)

• Open tournaments sometimes paired teens with much older, more experienced fighters, fostering mental and physical toughness.
• “A 16 year old could fight a 20 year old or 21 year old...This is an open fighting, but it is based on their skills.” (06:00, Mike Tyson)

4. Facing Burnout and Quitting – Tyson’s Advice to Young Athletes

(06:46 – 07:18)

• The Power of Belief:
  • Acknowledges his own moments of wanting to quit and the difference a supportive mentor makes:
    • “I wanted to quit too… I just had somebody that believed in me more than I believed in myself and that’s why I didn’t quit.” (06:46, Mike Tyson)
  • Coaches and parents must play multiple roles—“You gotta be a mother, a father, a psychiatrist, a doctor, a masseuse…you gotta wear a lot of hats in this game.” (07:03, Mike Tyson)

5. The Secret: Determination Over Talent

(08:02 – 08:58)

• Work Ethic Trumps Raw Talent:
  • If forced to pick, Tyson credits “determination and will” above talent:
    • “Talent don’t mean nothing. Don’t mean nothing.” (08:27, Mike Tyson)
  • Learned the meaning of determination from Cus D’Amato, who saw something in Tyson even before his skills matched his toughness:
    • “[Cus] saw that I’m tough and determined...Imagine if I knew how to fight...” (08:58, Mike Tyson)

6. The Athlete-Coach Relationship

(09:21 – 11:14)

• Trust and Unconditional Support:

  • Emphasizes the deep, father-son-like bond between coach and fighter.
  • “Your trainer spends more time [with you] than your parents. If you're really committed...It all comes down to trust.” (09:30, Mike Tyson)
  • For Tyson, that trust in Cus was absolute:
    • “If he told me to kill somebody, I would.” (10:47, Mike Tyson—emphasizing unwavering loyalty)

• Chemistry Over Credentials:

  • “A guy could be a horrible trainer. But he got the right chemistry. That’d be a winning team…You could be a bum with chemistry and succeed well.” (11:14, Mike Tyson)
  • Sometimes, it’s not knowledge, but the bond—the “right test”—that forges champions.

7. Then vs Now: The State of Young Fighters

(12:13 – 13:00)

• Youth Fighters: Then and Now:

  • Tyson feels earlier generations were hungry and constantly active—fighters “eat, sleep, breathe, train, and stay in shape. These guys are partying, running 20 miles…very whole different animal back in the ‘80s and now.” (12:13)

• Access and Survival:

  • For Tyson’s generation, failing in boxing meant “you were finished…it was our game.” (12:52)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “If I had to pay, I would never be here talking to you. That’s why there’s no money coming out of any of these kids’ pockets.” —Mike Tyson (03:49)
• “I just had somebody that believed in me more than I believed in myself and that’s why I didn’t quit.” —Mike Tyson (06:46)
• “Talent don’t mean nothing. Don’t mean nothing.” —Mike Tyson (08:27)
• “Your trainer spends more time than you, than your parents. ...It all comes down to trust.” —Mike Tyson (09:30)
• “If he told me to kill somebody, I would.” —Mike Tyson on his attachment and trust in Cus D’Amato (10:47)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:32 – Tyson describes the youth invitational event and the importance of accessible amateur boxing
• 03:10 – Tyson outlines the risks to Olympic boxing and the urgency for increased amateur activity
• 05:27 – Tyson recalls a formative defeat as a teen and the lesson it brought
• 06:46 – Tyson’s candid thoughts on wanting to quit, and the difference a mentor makes
• 07:03 – Tyson expounds on the multifaceted role of a coach
• 08:27 – Tyson on the supremacy of will and determination over talent
• 09:30 – The “parent/child” level of coach-athlete trust
• 11:14 – The mysterious magic of chemistry in coaching success
• 12:13 – Tyson compares the fighters of today with those of his era

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Closing Tone and Reflections

The episode is intimate, unscripted, and motivational, featuring Tyson’s trademark blend of bluntness, honesty, and reflective wisdom. Greg Olsen centers the conversation on what matters: opportunity, mentorship, the complexity of coaching, and resilience. Tyson’s passion to “save boxing” and his gratitude for the mentorship that changed his life remind listeners of the lasting, life-shaping power of youth sports and the adults behind them.

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For listeners, this episode is a testament to why mentorship, community, and relentless determination still matter most in the making of champions—inside and outside the ring.

Transcript

[A]

We'll travel all over the world for these kids, and they're going to learn so much and have so much experience in life, and it's just good for them. They should have that. That's what happened to me, and that's why I became Mike Tyson. They should have that opportunity to do the same. And I want to save boxing again. I want to have more Olympic champions. I wanted to quit, too. You know what I mean? I just had somebody that believed in me more than I believed in myself, and that's why I didn't quit.

[B]

Youth sports in America are at a crossroads, and I'm here to help lead, lead the conversation forward. I'm Greg Olson. Each week we're sitting down with top athletes, coaches and more to talk about what's working, what's broken, and what's next. Welcome to you think. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another, I would say probably one of our most special pods ever. We are joined by one of the most recognizable athletes in the history of the world, one of the baddest men of all time, a guy that I grew up watching, just loving. If he was on, you didn't miss him. An idol for a lot of people. Unbelievable. Just the fact that Mike Tyson is joining us here on you think, Mike, I. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have you join us.

[A]

Hey, man, I'm just happy to see you, man.

[B]

Yeah. Well, Mike, I want to jump right in. So we talk all things amateur sports, youth sports. I want to jump in. I know you have a big event this weekend in Vegas at the Sahara, the invitational, one of a very unique event, invite only amateur boxing event. Obviously something very near and dear to your heart. Tell all of us what they could expect. What is the event in. In Vegas this weekend at the Sahara?

[A]

First of all, you could expect that all the guys that are flying in here, they're doing it free of charge. No one's going to take any money out of anybody's pocket to come here. They put up hotels, get cars, drive around. And this is something that's close to my heart because when I was a young boy, 14 years old, this is what I did. I went to. I went to like 4 different fights a week. We kept fighting every time. And we had everywhere, like, if I was in Colorado Spring fighting in the Junior Olympic, I fight there for three days, four days, and I leave that, go to Ohio State Fair. Never going to keep going to other tournaments, fighting and fighting and getting experience and meeting people, you know, I mean, it's growing up having a great, great intellectual people. When you travel all over the world, some people know these people they meet all their lives. And then we're going to. I have a team right now that's I believe is prepared to fight other teams in other countries, like Roberto Duran want to fight me with his team. Canelo says he wants to fight me with his team. And this is going to be great. We will travel all over the world for these kids and they're going to learn so much and have so much experience in life and it's just good for them. They should have that. That's what happened to me and that's why I became Mike Tyson. They should have that opportunity to do the.

[B]

Yeah. Give us an idea. How old are these kids? So you, you mentioned when you were 14, they go, how old are these kids?

[A]

From nine to like 1870.

[B]

Wow. So they're kids.

[A]

Yeah. Wow. Now, how different fighters, if it wasn't

[B]

for your event, if it wasn't for the invitational in Vegas. Give us an idea. What does the amateur boxing, what does the, the pathway now look like compared to when you were a child?

[A]

They're about to take it out the Olympics. That's what's happening now. Okay. They're thinking about reconsidering the, the putting it in the Olympics again. So that's how bad boxing has become. And I want to save boxing again. I want to have more Olympic champions. And I think by keeping them active, probably my goal is to have four a tournament four times a year. And four times a year they can get fights for me, that would be awesome. Besides the fights, they get where they normally fight at the club.

[B]

Yeah. Well, that, that's awesome. And, and hats off. And, and kudos to you for giving back, obviously, to a sport that, you know. You have been one of the most prominent faces, most likely the most prominent face of all time.

[A]

Exactly. And if I had to pay, I would never be here talking to you.

[B]

Amazing.

[A]

That's why there's no, no money's coming out of any of these kids pocket.

[B]

Well, that's special. And. And again, hats off. And I hope this continues to grow. We can continue to follow it. But take us back to the 14 year you touched on it. You're in Colorado Springs, you're in Ohio. But bring our viewers. We've heard a lot about your sport, your story and everything you've gone through on your race to being the heavyweight champ. Give it. Take us back to teenage early years. What was the circuit like? What was that pathway like give us an idea of Mike Tyson.

[A]

I was so happy traveling so much. Like, listen, I will try. It's just the whole week I'd be going out of town for fighting, coming Colorado Springs here, Ohio State Fair here. I'm going back to Columbus here, go back to New York here. It's like five fights within that whole year period. Just constantly fighting. Rhode island here, club fights here. And it's and this kids experience traveling. I never went nowhere but New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan. I'm going to all these pieces. Rhode Island, Utah, all these places I've never been before in my life. And I'm saying, wow. Lafayette, Louisiana, we all over the place fighting. Tokyo, Japan. Well, Finland went all over Russia, we went all over the world fighting.

[B]

That's awesome. Do you have one moment in your teen early, but not when we saw you in the Olympics? Not the Mike Tyson we all saw on tv. Was there like an early fight at one of these fairs or at one of these cities where you were like, okay, this is the first glimpse of the Mike Tyson the world would come to know. Do you have a moment when you remember a certain fight?

[A]

Yeah, I was in Rhode island and I was fighting this guy. He was going to turn pro after this fight. This was his last fight. I was 15 years old, he was like 22. And we fought and some people think I thought, I want, I didn't think I won. But it was a close fight and he beat me and I cried from Rhode island to Catskill, New York. And that fight made me such a better fighter.

[B]

Unbelievable. So there's no age groups in any of this. You have 15 year olds fighting 20 year olds. Is that still the same today?

[A]

No, this is a tournament. Of course, neighbor has to come and they would have to be equally matched. You know a 16 year old could fight a 20 year old or 21 year old. Yes, you're right. A 30 year old if he's in there. This is an open fighting, but it

[B]

is based on their skills.

[A]

Yeah, open fighting is based on your skill. That means you can fight anybody.

[B]

That's awesome. And for all of us who have watched you fight over the years, not surprising that you were 15. Let me ask you this Mike, because I think your perspective is really cool. So obviously we cover a lot of youth sports. We hear from families and coaches all over the country right now that are raising young kids and there's burnout and there's, they want to quit and it's getting hard. When you look back on those early years, like what Advice would you give? I'm sure there were days you wanted to quit. I'm sure there were workouts.

[A]

Exactly, exactly. I said, listen, I wanted to quit too, you know what I mean? I just had somebody that believed in me more than I believed in myself and that's why I didn't quit.

[B]

So how do we keep these kids from walking away when it gets hard or when they get discouraged?

[A]

Well, we did. We're anywhere there to guide them, you know, that's what we're there for too. You got to be a mother in this boxing game. You gotta be somebody's mother, you gotta be his father, you gotta be a psychiatrist, gotta be his doctor, gotta be his masseuse. You gotta be, you gotta wear a lot of hats in this game.

[B]

Yeah. So again, if you could tell your. So think back to that 15 year old kid getting ready to fight up in Long island, knowing what you know now, being through what you've been known what you've been through. If you were in his corner and you were his manager, you were his coach, what would you, how would you coach 15 year old Mike Tyson?

[A]

Well, listen, if I was training 15 year old, my thing, you have to believe I was training right before the moment of the fight. So he would be, he would be prepared, he would have fought 4, 5, 6 rounds with top professional fighters. So he's fighting amateur fight, I'm putting them in the ring to train with professionals. You know, I'm just, that's just, I try to keep giving the edge. That's. You eventually want to become a professional fighter, so you might as well start learning while you're an amateur.

[B]

Yeah, that's awesome. You know, one of the other things we hear from a lot of kids, and I got, I got a bunch of young kids that I'm raising too, and you hear this whole idea of like, is it talent based or is it work ethic and toughness? When you look back on your career, obviously you were born with some very unique gifts. But if you had to pick only one, would you say your career was defined by talent or was your career defined by mentality and work ethic? If you had to just pick one

[A]

term, determination and will, talent don't mean nothing. Don't mean nothing.

[B]

Can we teach that?

[A]

Excuse me?

[B]

Can we teach determination? How, how would you define teaching that

[A]

if you don't listen? I don't know. I didn't know what determination was until Cuz told me. I'm, listen, I'm 11, 13 years old, out of the gutter what's determination? I never heard that. I always had it, possessed it, but I never knew what it was.

[B]

How did he first define it to you? Do you remember?

[A]

Well, he saw me boxing, he saw me getting hit before he started training me, he saw me box and I'm getting hit all day with punches. I don't know how to move. I'm not that. But he sees that I'm tough and determined. Imagine if I knew how to avoid punches and counter punches, you know, the guy, you know, I could take a great punch, but imagine if I knew how to fight. And so he saw that as a good quality because I was tough and I didn't give up.

[B]

Talk more about the athlete and coach relationship. Obviously, yours with Cus is one of the most well known athlete coach stories of all time.

[A]

It has to come down to a father and son relationship because your trainer spends more time than you, than your parents. If you're really committed to fighting, you know, you have to grow a bond and relationship of trust. It all comes down to trust.

[B]

How did he earn your trust?

[A]

Excuse me?

[B]

How did he earn your trust?

[A]

Who customize up. Yeah, listen,

[B]

Was there a moment when you didn't think he was the best coach for you?

[A]

No, no, I always believed he was the best. But somebody said something about me like, Mike, he's 74 years old, he busted him in the face.

[B]

Oh, I, I appreciate, we appreciate. I, I grew up the son of a coach, Mike. My, my father was my football coach and there's no relationship like a coach. And you mentioned for him he was a coach and a father, but on the field he was coach.

[A]

He's 74 years old. He punched that man in the face because he said that about.

[B]

There was never a moment you knew. He, even though as hard as he was to you, there was never a part where you ever, you never had to question whether he loved you.

[A]

It's very hard, but if he told me to kill somebody, I would.

[B]

But you, you always knew he loved you.

[A]

Oh, 100. Yeah.

[B]

So what would you say? So how. Let's talk to the coaches out there. We have a lot of coaches who listen to this and, and relationships and they talk about building culture. Like, what would our advice to these coaches be? Like, how do you pour into a young athlete that they feel the way they do about them like you do about your coach?

[A]

Hey, listen, I'll be a lie if I said it because you have to be a great coach. It has a lot to do with chemistry. A guy could be a horrible trainer. But he got the right chemistry. That'd be a winning team. Isn't that weird? He don't know what the hell he do, but they got the right test. Oh, that's. That's something. I had the chemistry.

[B]

I love it.

[A]

Well, obviously, you could be a bum with chemistry and succeed well.

[B]

And when you have one of the greatest coaches and one of the greatest fighters of all time, it's a pretty good partnership. I want to go back to the invitational before I let you go again. Mike. Mike Tyson, I can't thank you enough. The fact that I'm even talking to you right now is amazing. Let me ask you this. You go inside the Sahara this weekend, you're sitting there watching these young fighters from all over the country. When you watch young fighters come up now, would you say they're better than they were when you were coming up? Are they more well coached? Are they more well? How does it compare?

[A]

I can't say they were better than my fighter because my guys are too active for these guys. These guys are not fighting enough to fight. The guys in the 80s, they did not. These guys are. These guys are always in shape. These guys going to the bar and they come and they run home five or seven miles. So these guys are. They eat, sleep, breathe, train, and stay in the shape. These guys are partying, running 20 miles. These guys are racing each other because they drunk. I bet you can't beat me. And racing each other. So very whole different animal back in the 80s and now.

[B]

Is there an element of access to trainers and access to how to be a good fighter that's different than what it was like for you in the 80s?

[A]

Well, listen, we all knew in the 80s we didn't make it here. We were finished. This is. This was a out game. Boxing.

[B]

Got it. Well, Mike, I. I can't. I can't thank you enough. We're all gonna be tuning in, man. I can't. I hope. Wish you nothing but the best with the Invitational. I love what you're doing.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you.

[B]

So special. I appreciate you. You kind of open in your soul a little bit and sharing some of these stories about coaching and relationships and what youth sports is like. And it's just such an unbelievable conversation going on. And to have someone like you to be able to share some wisdom and share some stories, it's a. It's a big treat for us on Youth Inc. So we are greatly appreciative.

[A]

Thank you so much, brother.

[B]

Good luck this weekend.