I've been reading Teddy Atlas' book and so far it's been amazing.
One story that had me shaking my head was when Teddy was taking the amatuers he was training down to a place for 'smokers'. These were unsanctioned bouts between amateur fighters but using pro gloves and no head gear; so essentially pro style bouts with amateurs. There would usually be approx. 200 people that would show up for these fights and they took place in a very beat up building.
Tyson was apart of his team at this time and despite being only 12 years old he was 5'9" and 205 lbs - all muscle. Atlas said he's never seen anyone as naturally built or strong as he was.
So anyway, here's a 12 year old Tyson fighting a tough 17 year old Hispanic kid. Tyson nails the kid with two quick left hooks - one to the body and then one to the head. The spanish kid goes limp against the ropes, almost sitting on them, and before the ref can intervene he nails him with a vicious left uppercut. The punch was so forcefull that the kids head snapped back and the sweat that flew from it hit the wall behind the ring and made a terribly loud 'slapping noise'. Supposedly the sound was incredibly loud and the whole place went silent. Nobody said they had ever seen anything like it. One guy who was in attendance, who later became a manager, said he's never forgotten that. He couldn't believe someone would possess that much power. And at 12 years old at that.
One story that had me shaking my head was when Teddy was taking the amatuers he was training down to a place for 'smokers'. These were unsanctioned bouts between amateur fighters but using pro gloves and no head gear; so essentially pro style bouts with amateurs. There would usually be approx. 200 people that would show up for these fights and they took place in a very beat up building.
Tyson was apart of his team at this time and despite being only 12 years old he was 5'9" and 205 lbs - all muscle. Atlas said he's never seen anyone as naturally built or strong as he was.
So anyway, here's a 12 year old Tyson fighting a tough 17 year old Hispanic kid. Tyson nails the kid with two quick left hooks - one to the body and then one to the head. The spanish kid goes limp against the ropes, almost sitting on them, and before the ref can intervene he nails him with a vicious left uppercut. The punch was so forcefull that the kids head snapped back and the sweat that flew from it hit the wall behind the ring and made a terribly loud 'slapping noise'. Supposedly the sound was incredibly loud and the whole place went silent. Nobody said they had ever seen anything like it. One guy who was in attendance, who later became a manager, said he's never forgotten that. He couldn't believe someone would possess that much power. And at 12 years old at that.