If Mike Tyson didn't go full re**** and fire Kevin Rooney

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

How different would his career have been?

Rooney had been with Tyson since late 1982, when Tyson was 16 years old and just won the National Junior Olympics (having a 9–1 amateur record, with all 9 wins inside the distance), oversaw the second half of his amateur career (44 fights), saw the start of his professional career in 1985, followed Tyson throughout his world championship days, until Tyson's bout with Michael Spinks in 1988, when on the insistence of Don King, Tyson fired Rooney along with all other staff that comprised the Team Tyson from the beginning. In the words of sportswriter Jack Newfield, "the day Tyson fired Kevin Rooney there was a cap put on Mike Tyson's development as a fighter, he did not develop anymore beyond that day."

During the period when Rooney was Tyson's trainer, Tyson had a professional record of 35 fights, 35 wins (31 wins by KO). Don King had successfully urged Tyson to break all ties with the D'Amato stable, only his new co-trainer Jay Bright was a disciple of D'Amato, with all other being people from the street. Tyson's mobility skills in the boxing ring, especially his defensive upper-body and head movement, noticeably declined after Rooney's firing, eventually resulting in Tyson suffered his first professional loss in a fight 18 months after Rooney's departure. Boxing analyst Larry Merchant credited Tyson's loss in the Douglas fight with the absence of Kevin Rooney in his corner. The same opinion has been shared by Butch Lewis and Jerry Izenberg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Rooney

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

@LazaRRus @PUO3 @Rebelfett

 

[LazaRRus]

@LazaRRus @PUO3 @Rebelfett

Very different. He was actually a student of the game and willing to listen to those who he respected

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Very different. He was actually a student of the game and willing to listen to those who he respected

Sad that he didn't just decline but fell off a cliff come his first fight without Rooney, Buster Douglas... I mean, his new corner used a condom... a condom for swelling in the later rounds.

 

[Hagler]

Don King certainly played a huge part in Tyson’s firing of Rooney. He didn’t care about the boxing, only about Tyson’s signing whatever piece of paper he presented him. The fewer people could influence Mike, the better.

Tyson would have remained undefeated longer, keeping his fundamentals in the ring, the footwork, the bob and weave, the combos, etc.

I still believe he was an early bloomer who was bound to quickly get over the hill, though. But he’d be ranked higher in ATG lists.

An early Holyfield fight with Rooney in his corner would have been something to behold.

 

[LazaRRus]

Sad that he didn't just decline but fell off a cliff come his first fight without Rooney, Buster Douglas... I mean, his new corner used a condom... a condom for swelling in the later rounds.

They only knew how to take his money and that's all they gave a shit about

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Don King certainly played a huge part in Tyson’s firing of Rooney. He didn’t care about the boxing, only about Tyson’s signing whatever piece of paper he presented him. The fewer people could influence Mike, the better.

Tyson would have remained undefeated longer, keeping his fundamentals in the ring, the footwork, the bob and weave, etc.

I still believe he was an early bloomer who was bound to quickly get over the hill, though. But he’d be ranked higher in ATG lists.

An early Holyfield fight with Rooney in his corner would have been something to behold.

Man... If only he beat Douglas. Would have boxed Holyfield... both in legit Prime... and also would have been the enforcer at Wrestlemania that year.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

And the Spinks knockout... Go to the gym and see if you can land a brutal right uppercut to the right side of the face... yeah, he ducked into it but still something you don't see everyday...

 

[TheGreatA]

Tyson would have had to have an entirely different personality in order to benefit from Rooney sticking around. It wasn't just Rooney, he lost his entire support system and replaced it with hustlers and leeches. Even if Rooney had stayed, would there have been any chance of Tyson actually listening to him and staying disciplined?

 

[Deleted member 405583]

Sad that he didn't just decline but fell off a cliff come his first fight without Rooney, Buster Douglas... I mean, his new corner used a condom... a condom for swelling in the later rounds.

It wasn't used, was it?

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

It wasn't used, was it?

He said he had sex with over a 100 women during that trip to Japan...

 

[Deleted member 405583]

He said he had sex with over a 100 women during that trip to Japan...

 

[Ancient Warrior]

Sad that he didn't just decline but fell off a cliff come his first fight without Rooney, Buster Douglas... I mean, his new corner used a condom... a condom for swelling in the later rounds.

Was it a condom or are you kidding? Lol

I just remember it was rubber and filled with cold water. I thought it was a glove.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

Might as well ask how Benitez and Duran would do if they didn’t like to party.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Was it a condom or are you kidding? Lol

I just remember it was rubber and filled with cold water. I thought it was a glove.

The promoter Don King stood uneasy sentinel over the vicious splits in the camp, the dreadful sparring sessions, a champion suffering from depression and a corner team capable of little more than applying a condom packed with ice to the swollen features of their bored boss between rounds.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...n-crashing-to-earth-steve-bunce-10034625.html

 

[Ancient Warrior]

The promoter Don King stood uneasy sentinel over the vicious splits in the camp, the dreadful sparring sessions, a champion suffering from depression and a corner team capable of little more than applying a condom packed with ice to the swollen features of their bored boss between rounds.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...n-crashing-to-earth-steve-bunce-10034625.html

I just looked quickly at the fight and to be honest, I can’t tell what it was.

It sure sounds funnier.

 

[Kforcer]

Tyson said that while Cus was like a father figure, Rooney was like an older brother, and that there were things your father could tell you that your older brother couldn't. So apparently, even looking back, Tyson doesn't seem to exactly regret firing Rooney. When you hear him speak of Atlas, he gives him a ton of credit as a trainer, but when asked to compare Atlas and Rooney, Tyson came down decisively in favor of Atlas, saying he was "totally different".

The difference before and after Rooney is obvious though, so I don't think there's really any argument that he was better off with Rooney in his corner. I think the question is whether or not they would have been able to maintain that relationship for much longer, regardless of King. It sounds like Tyson bristled under Rooney's strict regimen and orders and perhaps wouldn't have been able to take it for much longer either way.

Even now, they haven't really had any meaningful public reconciliation other than a brief handshake at a boxing match they both attended.

 

[JSN]

Tyson would have had to have an entirely different personality in order to benefit from Rooney sticking around. It wasn't just Rooney, he lost his entire support system and replaced it with hustlers and leeches. Even if Rooney had stayed, would there have been any chance of Tyson actually listening to him and staying disciplined?

Yeah Rooney isn’t some magical puzzle piece that ties everything together. His firing is a symptom of the disease. Mike was a crazy, angry, addict who had all of the fake and fortune and no positive life skills.