
Then one day I was watching TV and I saw this young cool looking guy in t-shirt and jeans doing magic to people in the street.


This is where I was nicknamed “Ratso”, halfway through the book.

Publisher’s Weekly gave us a starred 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….

I hit the libraries and archives and filled in the picture of the pre-Mike Cus, a man who molded Floyd Patterson, fought the mob along the way, and made him the youngest heavyweight champ ever – until he broke his own record with Mike. Mike recounted the years he spent with Cus up in Catskill, torturing himself with the Holy Grail of the heavyweight championship glittering within reach. But what can you say after a 600+ page autobiography? Mike’s wife suggested we do a full book about Mike’s mentor, his trainer, and his adopted father, the great Cus D’Amato, outlining his unique philosophy of self-improvement. Our first book did so well that the publisher wanted a follow-up immediately.
