Mike Tyson at Mecca Mike Tyson in Italy The Return of Mike Tyson

Former trainer Baranski remembers better times
By Tim Wilkin
Source: timesunion

A lot of people thought of Baranski as Tyson's cut man (not that he needed one back then). Baranski bristles at that. He says he was an assistant trainer.

"Those were the good old days," Baranski said. "From August 1986 to August 1987, we spent 27 weeks in Las Vegas. Hell, that was 21 years ago."

Baranski now is 86, but you wouldn't know it. He spends little time in the recliner watching old fights on tape. He moves as fast as he did when he founded the old Trinity Institute Gym in 1963.

He is pictured here in 1987, the year before he stopped running the gym.

PICTURES GO HERE

Baranski, an accomplished middleweight fighter in the 1940s, hasn't forgotten how to work out. Four times a week, he is at Albany's Quail Street Gym. He goes four rounds on a speed bag, four more on a heavy bag. He goes through a rigorous routine of calisthenics. He rides the bike. Oh, and he does 300 sit-ups.

More quotes available in the extended section of this post (click 'Read More' below).

November 22nd 1986.
Mike Tyson - the most brutal and destructive heavyweight of any era, became the youngest man ever at the age of 20 to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Mike Tyson Vs Trevor Berbick Click to view Video (including full post-fight interview)

On November 4th, it will have been 21 years since the death of Cus D'Amato - a man who helped alter the future of the sport and who developed some of the greatest fighters in history. To remember this legendary trainer we would like to point out to the Tyson Quotes section to read some of Cus D'Amato's words of wisdom and remember the great man and brilliant trainer/manager he was.

Cus D'Amato on how the recognition and acknowledgement of fear is the crucial lesson he taught and was ignored by other trainers:
Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning in any area, but particularly in boxing. For example, boxing is something you learn through repetition. You do it over and over and suddenly youve got it. ?However, in the course of trying to learn, if you get hit and get hurt, this makes you cautious, and when youre cautious you cant repeat it, and when you cant repeat it, its going to delay the learning process?When they?come up to the gym and say I want to be a fighter, the first thing Id do was talk to them about fear?I would always use?the same example of the deer crossing an open field and upon approaching the clearing suddenly instinct tells him danger is there, and nature begins the survival process, which involves the body releasing adrenalin into the bloodstream, causing the heart to beat faster and enabling the deer to perform extraordinarily feats of agility and strength?It enables the deer to get out of range of the danger, helps him escape to the safety of the forest across the clearing?an example in which fear is your friend.
The thing a kid in the street fears the most is to be called yellow or chicken, and sometimes a kid will do the most stupid, wild, crazy things just to hide how scared he is. I often tell them that while fear is such an obnoxious thing, an embarrassing thing?nevertheless it is your friend, because anytime anyone saves your life perhaps a dozen times a day, no matter what how obnoxious he is, youve got to look upon him as a friend, and this is what fear is?Since nature gave us fear in order to help us survive, we cannot look upon it as an enemy. Just think how many times a day a person would die if he had no fear. Hed walk in front of cars, hed die a dozen times a day. Fear is a protective mechanism?.By talking to the fighters about fear I cut the learning time maybe as much as half, sometimes more, depending on the individual.?

More pictures and quotes available in the extended section of this post (click 'Read More' below).

5 September. Today exactly 21 years ago the 19 year old Mike Tyson fought his eighth pro-fight against Michael Johnson.

The fight was won in the familiar Tyson style: the headmoving defense first, the bobbing and weaving and the fast combination punches with bad intentions all resulting in a first round knockout.

And what kind of bad intentions... The knock-out punch is by many fans together with the Botha knock-out punch considered as one of the hardest and most brutal knock-out punches delivered by Tyson.

So brutal and scary that it hurts to just watch the replays and makes you feel for the receiver. The commentator named it 'a punch from a 19 year old boy that could knock out any heavyweight in the world'.

Michael Johnson spend several minutes on the canvas (and the stool) ending up very well with a broken jaw.

To watch the full fight including the full special pre-fight and post-fight interviews click here.

Be sure to note the great interaction (the love and friendship) between Tyson and co-manager and friend Jimmy Jacobs in the interviews as he talks about the big problem of finding opponents who are capable of giving Mike some fight time and experience.

Also note the many great Tyson quotes in the video (all added to the new Tyson quotes section) such as:

"If i fight somebody and the fight goes 10 rounds the outcome for the opponent will be worse than a 1 round knockout"

"I'm looking at him just as another passing point to the title. Whoever is in the way i don't care who they are at the moment, people might say opponents, but as i see i just go through them because this is for real and mike tyson is for real"

"I'm enjoying myself as a 19 year old boy. Everybody is going around saying 'he's just a boy, he's just a boy', but i'm going to be the only boy that be king of the world"

"My shots are so accurate and so precise...not to be egotistic...but when they land they are so precise...I can't help it who you are...you have to go down, because there is a law when Mike Tyson hits you."


To watch the full fight including the full special pre-fight and post-fight interviews click here

April 10, 1985. Today exactly 21 years ago Mike Tyson fought his second professional fight at the age of just 18. While the fight against Trent Singleton in the ring looked very easy, the psychological fight was all but that. People who have stepped in the ring aswell know this by experience: the crushing emotional feelings before your very first fights. Mike Tyson once said it the best with his quote: A lot of people dont understand the psychological trip in heavyweight fighting. The greatest fighter in the world is not the guy with the most skills and most talent. The greatest fighter in the world is good at keeping his composure under all the pressure?. This quote goes back to the very basic of Cus DAmatos famous teaching of Fire & Fear.

To put this psychological aspect of boxing in light Id like to share the full video of this fight along with an excerpt about Tysons fight against Trent Singleton from José Torres book Fire & Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson?.

By José Torres:
On April 10, 1985, Trent Singleton, a fighter with a poor record but an impressive physique was coolly waiting to fight the relatively unknown Tyson. He would be Tysons second opponent. I had visited Singleton, wished him good luck, and told him, as I tell all boxers, to protect himself.
Tyson, tense and anxious, was not too far away in his own dressing room, throwing punches at an invisible opponent. He was trying to put into practices DAmatos teachings: relaxation, emotional control.
I dont have to tell you,? I told Mike as he paced the large dressing room he was sharing with a few other fighters, that feeling of wishing to be somewhere else at this moment is normal. The other bastard in the next dressing room is as much or more afraid than you.? Mike, his head down, never looked up, his face remained expressionless. You know this, but I must remind you that if you didnt have those feelings I would tell Cus that youre a dumb, crazy kid not worth keeping.?
No response. Are you listening?? I asked.
Uh-huh.?
At least youre not shaking like I always did,? I said.
Before my first professional fight I couldnt control the trembling of my hands or the butterflies in my stomach. I remember my teeth chattering so loudly that my opponent, Gene Hamilton, who was standing next to me, asked if I was cold. I gave him a nervous laugh for an answer because I had noticed his stomach was quivering out of control. I couldnt control my own trembling, but I felt my energy level increasing as the fight approached.
Just try to relax,? I said now. And when you walk in, dont forget to keep your hands up, your chin down, and punch always in combination.?
Tyson nodded a couple of times and then I told him to stand up and show me. He did, and I thought he was loose enough. I said, Now, youre ready to search and destroy.? He managed a spiritless smile.
Minutes later, as referee Sid Rubenstein gave the usual instructions in the center of the ring, Mike stared at the canvas, biting down on his mouthpiece. Fifty-two seconds after that, Rubenstein made Tyson stop punching. The referee had probably prevented Singletons brains from being scrambled. The fight was suddenly over and Tyson was a happy, beaming teenager. He looked at me as if he was surprised with the ease of his triumph. Rubensteins instructions had taken longer than the fight itself.

The full fight can be watched by goldmembers here. Non-goldmembers can download the fight here.

22 November. Today exactly 19 years ago Mike Tyson became the youngest Heavyweight Champion of the world by a brutal win over Trevor Berbick. With before unseen power and viciousness in a title-fight young Mike Tyson won his first and personally one of his most important title. By winning the WBC belt he payed homage to his late mentor Cus D'Amato proving the belief of his mentor was not misplaced,..that he not only could be the next heavyweight champion of the world,...but also the youngest heayyweight champion of the world. A record not broken since then and established for a long time to come (most possibly forever). By winning the WBC belt Mike also started the unification series; an amazing, unique and bold effort only few great champions ever could accomplish. Today 19 years ago Mike Tysons rule of his first era began and he did it in style no one else has ever done since. Today 19 years ago the whole world saw the phenomenal called Mike Tyson, the whole world was stunned by the talent, force and power displayed by him and the whole world since then has not forgotten this day.


Feel free to relive this memorable moment togehter with many fellow Tyson fans by watching the full Tyson-Berbick fight (from the Download Fights-section).

More images available in the extended section of this post (click 'Read More' below).