CUS: This is all about immortality,
about your name being known till the end of time.
We have to wait for our moment like crocodiles in the mud.
No one knows when the drought will come
and the animals will have to migrate across the Sahara.
But we will be waiting.
Months. Years.
And the gazelles and the wildebeests
will cross the water.
And when they come, we will bite them.
You hear me, son?
We will bite them so hard that when they scream,
the whole world is gonna hear them.
You will supersede everyone.
You are a giant.
You are a colossus amongst men.
If you listen...
you will one day reign like the gods.
(upbeat rock music)
I didn't know what the fuck a gazelle was.
But I never heard anyone say anything good about me.
I wanted to hear more.
CUS: Boxing is entertainment.
So to be successful, a fighter must not only win,
but he must win in an exciting manner.
♪ ♪
SINGER: ♪ You got to ♪
He must throw punches with bad intentions.
You hear me, Mike?
With the speed of the devil.
Your mind is not your friend.
I hope you know that, Mike.
You have to fight your mind. Control it.
Block your feelings.
Fatigue is 90% psychological.
- Three, four, five. - CUS: To be a great fighter,
you have to get out of your head.
Keep your emotions shut off.
A gladiator.
A gladiator focuses on his objective
and blocks everything else out.
MIKE: Mind control shit? I didn't care.
I never had anyone interested in me before.
I ate that shit up.
I'm the best fighter in the world.
I'd train with Cus three times a week
and go back to Tryon at night.
Best fighter in the world. No one can beat me.
♪ ♪
TEDDY: We gotta talk about Mike.
For crying out loud, Teddy.
He didn't steal your money.
TEDDY: He did steal my money.
That's not what we gotta talk about.
It wasn't Mike.
TEDDY: He's gonna be paroled soon.
(whispering) It was me.
CUS: So? That's a good thing.
Back to Brooklyn, where he'll go do something stupid
and get killed, get locked up again.
Shit.
My mother always said you go to a person's house
for the first time...
you bring a gift.
Those are some cheap-ass chocolates.
No, thank you.
You wanna take him?
Not take.
You'll see him anytime.
LORNA MAE: You think that you'll do a better job
than me?
He know right from wrong, but he don't care.
CUS: I'll see he stays out of trouble.
(Lorna Mae scoffs)
I don't know how many times they come to me
telling me he's arrested.
I gotta take care of three kids
without no help from anybody.
CUS: Lorna Mae,
Mike's got a potential.
He's got a real serious talent.
I know I could bring it out in him.
What's in it for you?
I've been doing this all my life.
Believe me when I tell you he could go the distance.
If he can't box no more,
you still keep him?
That's what I thought.
What's in it for you, motherfucker?
Well, I'll be his manager.
You rather go live with him?
Yeah.
Take him.
He only gonna disappoint you.
You forgot your fucking chocolates.
(mellow music)
♪ ♪
(children chattering)
SINGER: ♪ It seems I've abandoned my dreams ♪
♪ I'm on the run, sinkin' with the sun ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Lost in them pale blue eyes ♪
I don't know why you think
that extra gravy's so necessary, Mike.
You're gonna spend all morning tomorrow running it off.
♪ ♪
Cus, this is the best cheese I ever had.
What kind of cheese is this?
What the fuck?
You're eating butter.
(laughter)
All right, all right.
It was round.
I never seen round butter.
It's European. Camille likes it.
When people hear my accent...
they know I'm a guy from the streets.
They underestimate me.
They'll underestimate you, too, 'cause you're Black.
Let 'em.
We'll use it to our advantage.
Here's the plan.
Junior Olympics, our warm-up.
Then real Olympic gold at 18.
Then we turn pro,
and we go for the title and we grab it.
The world championship.
Why do you think I can be that?
Because you can.
Don't you wanna change your life?
You don't even know what European butter is.
(jazzy music)
AUDIENCE: Aww!
At this point, Cus was kind of down and out
in his career.
All his hopes were on me.
He really needed a win.
♪ ♪
It's kind of a lot for a 13-year-old.
These two messed-up guys met, and they made history.
Now, Cus was kind of a-- he was kind of a quirky
kind of a character kind of guy, right?
All his coat pockets were sewn shut
so nobody could plant drugs on him.
He wouldn't drink in public because he assumed
someone would slip him a Mickey.
And his room? Off-limits.
Every day, he'd slip matches in the door
to see if anyone had been inside.
He was a progressive.
Loved Martin Luther King and Che Guevara.
If you wanted to get a rise out of him,
all you would have to say is...
I don't see how socialism could work.
Money's useless
unless you're helping people with it.
MIKE: And don't get him started on Ronald Reagan.
Bum, liar, snake, phony!
He refused to pay taxes to Republican administrations.
Instead he declared bankruptcy.
♪ ♪
And this is the guy I had to put all my faith in.
Except I didn't know how to believe what Cus saw in me.
I'd still go back to see my mom.
But I started to feel like I didn't belong there either.
Yo, man, what they teaching you upstate?
You need to share that shit.
LORNA MAE: Michael.
You smoking drugs in my house?
Just Barkim is.
LORNA MAE: Mm-hmm.
Give me that shit.
I send you away to do better
and come back doing drugs?
Don't do drugs.
I keep talking, but you ain't listening.
I didn't do anything. We didn't do anything.
LORNA MAE: I raised my kids better than that.
All except you.
Drugs are bullshit.
(laughter)
I don't want you to end up
a pimp like your father.
MIKE: Maybe I'll end up a deacon like my father.
(laughs) My father was a pimp and a deacon.
-(laughter) - You ain't never gonna be
no deacon, Mike.
Never be no deacon.
(laughs)
(sighs)
What are those people you living with like?
Your family take you back, you know.
I just gotta be with that old guy.
Mm-hmm.
(light music)
(laughter)
(indistinct chatter)
CUS: Punchers are born, not made.
And you got power in both fists, son.
I'm not telling you to make you believe
you're something you're not.
This is what you were born to do.
I wanna get him into a smoker.
You can't put a boy in a smoker.
What he needs is experience.
No one's gonna fight a kid who just turned 14.
I mean, you're not gonna find an opponent.
Of course I'm not gonna find an opponent.
You are. That's your fucking job.
Anyway, look at him.
Who's gonna believe he's 14?
Cus, he's a kid.
I'll get arrested.
♪ ♪
(crowd cheering)
Get the fuck out of here, Teddy.
You gonna look me in the eye and tell me
that this guy is 14?
Hand to God.
Where do you get the balls?
TEDDY: What do you want me to say?
The kid just turned 14.
Nah, get out of my gym.
Fine.
He's 18.
NELSON: There it is.
You know something, Teddy?
Sometimes I think you lie worse than we do.
(crowd yelling)
How you doing, Mike?
I was a baby.
What I wanted to say was, "Get me out of here.
I'm a fucking kid."
Instead I said...
I'm gonna get something from the grocery store
down the street.
Hurry back.
(car alarms blaring, dogs barking)
(child crying, indistinct chatter)
(glass shatters)
(indistinct chatter)
(siren wailing)
(funky music)
MIKE: People went after Cus for exposing a young kid
to a place like that and making him fight.
But that filthy place, it represented hope.
It was my way out.
It made me become who I needed to become.
Oh, and I knocked that motherfucker out.
SINGER: ♪ Hold on ♪
♪ ♪
(singing indistinctly)
♪ Hold on ♪
Yes, Michael!
I won my very first fight.
Knocked that motherfucker out cold.
Whoo!
Yeah!
Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Whoo!
Yeah! Yes, yes, whoo!
That's when the legend of Mike Tyson began.
Yes! Whoo!
(yells)
(breathing heavily)
The path is clear, son.
Junior Olympics.
A warm-up.
Then real Olympic gold at 18.
Uh, then we go pro...
and grab the title.
But I don't want you acting so excited
when you win a fight.
I want you arrogant.
You act like you're surprised you won.
Are you crying?
What's wrong with you?
I won't ever get bullied no more.
CUS: No.
Your superiority is...
undeniable.
They'll love you as much as they fear you.
But the fight starts before you enter the ring.
You gotta be the meanest fighter
God ever created.
No more crying.
Intimidation.
You need to embrace your villainy.
(dramatic music)
(cheers and applause)
MIKE: Junior Olympics, I won every fight
by knockouts in the first round.
I got gold in eight seconds.
I was this local hero with a gold medal at 14.
And half my friends back home were already dead.
I loved Cus so much, if he would've told me I could fly,
I would've believed him.
Only I kept going back to Brownsville,
getting fucked up and shit.
Oh, you guys are gonna see me really fucked up in this show.
(laughter)
You know, um...
back then, I was living in two worlds at the same time.
Or I was trying to.
♪ ♪
I've been doing that my whole life.
♪ ♪
It's the gold medal.
Read this.
You Muhammad Ali now?
I'm gonna be the youngest heavyweight champion
in the world.
Me.
I am that someone.
I'm used to you smelling like drink and reefer.
Look at you now.
(laughs)
You better keep on winning.
'Cause the second you lose,
that man's throwing your ass out.
He don't love you.
He's using you.
He's got his own reasons for teaching you.
He's teaching me to be somebody.
Opposite of what you ever did.
I'm going to Barkim's.
Don't rob any houses, now, you hear?
I don't do that shit no more.
Look at me.
Look.
I am disciplined now.
I'm not that piece of shit you said I was anymore.
I have pride.
(door slams)
(glass shatters)
Aah, come on, come on.
Hurry up, bitch, before somebody sees you.
Shit.
BARKIM: TV!
(laughter)
Then my boy Calvin start yelling like,
"Yo, this is Mike.
- He on the TV!" -(laughs)
So I'm thinking I'm 'bout to see police drag your ass off
or some shit.
Instead you in there fucking some white boy up.
And you got fucking white people cheering for you.
Shit.
I'm thinking like, "Damn.
- Am I high already?" -(laughs)
BARKIM: 'Cause I know that shit ain't right, man.
(laughs) That's crazy, right?
That's some motherfucking Twilight Zone shit
right there, Mike.
See, that's what the fuck it is.
Fuck is you doing here with me, man?
What you doing robbing people and shit like that for, man?
You got motherfucking white people
that love your ass, Mike.
Shit.
I wish I had white people that knew my Black ass.
I'ma die here, man.
You hear me?
You hear me, man?
That ain't your life.
Look around.
Ain't nothing here for you.
Shit.
You gotta get the fuck out of here
so I can tell people one day, like, "Yo,
I used to hang with that motherfucker, man."
Shit. (laughs)
(dramatic music)
♪ ♪
I didn't hang with him no more.
That night was the last time I saw him.
Three months later...
(gunshot)
(crowd yelling)
MIKE: Oh, man. That kind of pain?
That shit doesn't know how to express itself.
It hits hard.
♪ ♪
SINGER: ♪ I'm beggin' and pleadin' ♪
SINGERS: ♪ Beggin' and pleadin' ♪
SINGER: ♪ Don't you leave me ♪
♪ Don't you walk out that door ♪
SINGERS: ♪ Don't you walk out that door ♪
SINGER: ♪ I'm beggin' and pleadin' ♪
MIKE: My mom died around that time too.
SINGERS: ♪ Beggin' and pleadin' ♪
MIKE: Cancer.
SINGER: ♪ It won't be the same ♪
MIKE: It was a one-two punch.
SINGERS: ♪ Won't be the same anymore ♪
♪ ♪
Well, shit.
When my father died, I remember him moaning.
Maybe in pain.
Maybe anger.
I'll never know.
Worst part was, there was nothing I could do.
I should've done better.
She was never proud of me.
She thought I was a piece of shit.
Mothers can be wrong.
I can never fix it now.
This is just gonna be my story.
CUS: No.
This is one tiny part of--
of a great big story.
You might have done bad things.
But you got a good heart.
I know your heart, Mike.
I know that.
I'll tell you a secret that maybe I shouldn't.
Ever since I met you,
my biggest fear has been that someday,
someone'd come along, give you money,
and you'd leave me.
Fighters have done that to me all my life.
But I know you're not going.
We're family.
The fact that you work so hard,
listen, believe in me,
it gives me motivation to stay alive.
I don't know what I'd do without you.
I promise I won't leave until I see you succeed.
You hear me?
Hey, let's make this official.
Camille,
get the adoption papers done.
Be a family.
Hey, what do you think of your new son here, Camille?
(John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom")
And they said I didn't have it in me.
JOHN: ♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom ♪
♪ I'm gonna shoot you right down ♪
♪ Right off your feet ♪
MIKE: After that, Cus became my family.
♪ ♪
JOHN: ♪ Put you in my house ♪
MIKE: I lived at their house with he and Camille.
JOHN: ♪ Boom, boom, boom ♪
♪ ♪
MIKE: And then every day,
I'd train with Cus at that gym.
JOHN: ♪ Walk that walk ♪
MIKE: That was my life for the next three years.
♪ ♪
I wanted him to love me.
♪ ♪
But I was terrified of disappointing him.
♪ ♪
The reason I knocked everyone out so fast
in those early fights was because I was so terrified
of disappointing Cus.
If I wasn't winning, what good was I to him?
All right.
Nice, Mike, nice.
MIKE: We were ready to shock the world.
(crowd booing)
Except it didn't happen that way.
Fucking judges.
I let Cus down.
All that time he put into me.
The dream was over.
I knew Cus wouldn't love me no more.
And I couldn't take it.
You know, honestly, I'd rather kill myself
than have Cus not love me no more.
- Cus... - Don't say anything.
Take it like a man.
A gold would've greased the wheels,
but we don't need it.
We're turning pro sooner, that's all.
They thought we were murderous before?
You're gonna be a demon, Mike.
I want them afraid for their lives
when they face us.
Revenge'll be sweet, son.
They stole our Olympic glory.
We're gonna make them fucking pay.
We should be thanking them for this decision,
them cocksuckers.
Just like that, Iron Mike was born.
I won every single fight for the next six years.
(crowd yelling)
(upbeat music)
♪ ♪
As soon as I started winning in the ring...
All right. Cus set me up with two
of the best managers in the business...
I think our next move is television.
- MIKE: Jimmy Jacobs... - But we gotta talk about
the image we wanna project.
BILL: So try these on.
MIKE: And Bill Cayton.
This is what Bill Cosby wears on his show,
and everyone feels safe with Bill Cosby.
MIKE: But Cus was still in charge.
Hold on. Fuck safe.
I want his opponents to take the shit of their life
when they see Mike coming.
Cus, you hired us to promote his image.
Audiences have to feel comfortable with Mike.
CUS: Bullshit.
You're not turning him into Gorgeous George.
He's not gonna look like Gorgeous George,
for Christ's sake.
He's a scourge, a monster.
That's what I made him.
Over my dead body. Come on, Mike.
I thought I looked fly.
CUS: Come on, come on. Jesus.
- MIKE: He called all the shots. - Cus.
Your hips.
Relax your hips.
MIKE: He even took me to a hypnotist.
Relax your legs.
Relax your feet.
You have a wonderful right hand.
You haven't really believed in it.
But you will now.
MIKE: I actually think it helped.
♪ ♪
(crowd cheering)
Oh, man.
I was starting to get known.
I was 18, and I was sitting at the same table as De Niro,
David Bowie, Joe Piscopo.
But with women, man, I--
I just--honestly, I had no game at all.
Hi, you wanna fuck?
Yeah, no?
SINGER: ♪ You are the man ♪
See? No game.
Oh, man.
SINGER: ♪ You are the man ♪
MIKE: Cus never taught me about winning.
He only ever taught me about boxing.
♪ ♪
He was always there for me with the boxing...
no matter what.
♪ ♪
Until one day...
SINGER: ♪ 'Cause every time I need you, baby ♪
♪ ♪
♪ You're right there on time ♪
SINGERS: ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
(indistinct chatter)
You messing with the nurses?
Well, bless your heart for thinking that's...
(inhales shallowly) Even an option.
Sit down.
MIKE: How long you gotta be in here?
(Cus grunts)
You're getting better.
(breathing shallowly)
Fucking pneumonia.
I want you to do me a favor.
Look after Camille for me.
Listen to me.
You are going to be champion of the world.
I don't give a shit about any of it without you, Cus.
Can't do it without you.
CUS: Will you promise me...
you'll look after Camille?
- You promised. - CUS: I know.
It's all fucked up.
But you'll still get there without me.
- No. - CUS: Listen to me.
You succeed when you become champion.
I only succeed when you don't need me anymore.
I do need you, Cus.
I do.
I love you, Cus.
(sighs)
(sniffles)
You--
You were always, always
easy to love, Mike.
So I finally get a dad, right?
And I have to bury him.
To me, it was like I lost my whole life.
I just kept saying to myself,
"I don't have my friend no more."
He never told me that he wouldn't be there.
Then Cus' friends came to get a piece of me.
Not even a week after the funeral,
they had me back in the ring.
(P.P. Arnold's "The First Cut Is the Deepest")
COMMENTATOR: A Tyson fight is a ticking bomb.
This guy is a barbarian.
12 fights. 12 knockouts.
And consider this: he's just 19
and knocked out the last six in the first round.
And when they go down, they don't ask for a rematch.
Tyson is fighting on the average every two weeks.
Isn't that a lot?
Cus D'Amato, who died recently,
uh, he was Mike's mentor, teacher, legal guardian,
and--and Cus felt that to be a good fighter,
you have to fight frequently and often.
And so we have Mike fight as often as is safe.
P.P.: ♪ Baby, I know ♪
COMMENTATOR: Mike Tyson is the terror
of the heavyweight division, an animal.
With his record now 20 and 0 with 19 knockouts,
Tyson is considered one of the hardest punchers
in the division.
His manager, Jimmy Jacobs.
Tyson is one of the hardest hitters
- in his division. - What's that?
- Tyson, he hits damn hard. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He--he--he punches everybody
like they stole something from him.
His post-fight interviews last longer than the fights.
(laughs)
♪ ♪
MIKE: I miss Cus terribly.
I'm always looking for someone who's not there.
I have intelligence, discipline,
extremely honed skills.
But people just see an animal.
♪ ♪
They call me a savage.
(applause)
JOAN: Now, how many knockouts do you have?
Well, Joan, out of 27 fights,
27 wins, I got 25 knockouts.
-(cheers and applause) - Unbelievable.
Were you a--a rough kid?
Yeah.
A lot of people think I was a rough kid,
got in a lot of fights growing up,
beat up a lot of people, but it's not true.
I got beat up all the time.
- AUDIENCE: Oh. - I can't believe it.
Please. Would I lie to you?
(laughter)
All right, you're just 20 years old.
If you win the fight with Trevor Berbick--
- When I win, yeah. - JOAN: Okay.
So--so when you win,
do you, like, have an Adrian, like in Rocky?
No, not at all.
Oh, so no girlfriend?
When you're in training, do you give up sex?
-(laughter) - No.
See, 'cause my husband's always telling me
- he's in training, so... -(laughter)
All right, November 22nd.
Championship fight.
- Yeah. - You wanna pick a round?
Well, no, I'm not gonna predict.
But it's a pretty exciting moment for me.
Will you come back after and we'll talk about
- how you won? - Yeah.
Would you invite me back?
- Oh, November 23rd. -(laughter)
-(cheers and applause) - Listen, what a pleasure.
May I just say, good luck to you.
- God be with you. - Thank you.
We'll be right back.
MIKE: Night of the fight,
I knew Berbick wasn't gonna die for the belt and I was.
'Cause I was doing it for Cus.
After he died, I was always looking
to get back in the ring to be the monster
that Cus wanted me to be.
You've been training for this moment
since you were 13.
(laughs) This guy is a tomato can,
a bum.
You can do this with your eyes closed.
(upbeat music) SINGER: ♪ Get up ♪
ANNOUNCER: Everyone's talking
Tyson this, Tyson that.
Trevor Berbick's the champion.
No one's talking about that.
People are viewing this event as more of a coronation
- than a contest. -(bell dings)
How good is Mike Tyson really?
(crowd yelling)
♪ ♪
Oh, Tyson's punches even sound different
than other heavyweights.
ANNOUNCER: Ooh, Berbick is rocked.
He's in trouble here,
and it's still the first round.
Berbick is just trying to get through the first round.
He's hurt, no question.
ANNOUNCER: Another big shot by Tyson.
He's laying into him, right, left.
ANNOUNCER: Berbick looks hurt.
- ANNOUNCER: He stumbles. -(bell dings)
And a big first round for Mike Tyson.
(cheers and applause)
♪ ♪
COACH: Busting his game.
He's weak. Put his ass on the floor.
You can fuck him up.
Just dodge those hits, man.
(bell dings)
ANNOUNCER: Tyson was everything people
could've hoped for in that first round.
Berbick has got to--
ANNOUNCER: Another big shot by Tyson.
Berbick's in a heap of trouble here.
And he goes down!
(cheers and applause)
Big right hand, and Berbick's in trouble again.
Right to the body.
Uppercut.
Left hook.
Berbick goes down!
NINA SIMONE: ♪ Butterflies all havin' fun ♪
♪ You know what I mean ♪
ANNOUNCER: This one's going to be over, I believe.
NINA: ♪ Sleep in peace when day is done ♪
♪ That's what I mean ♪
♪ And this old world is a new world ♪
♪ And a bold world ♪
♪ For me ♪
ANNOUNCER: And it's over.
That's all.
And a new era in boxing has begun.
NINA: ♪ Stars when you shine ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Scent of the pine ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ Oh, freedom is mine ♪
♪ And I know how I feel ♪
♪ It's a new dawn ♪
♪ It's a new day ♪
♪ It's a new life for me ♪
(scatting)
♪ ♪
♪ Oh, I'm feeling good ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Fish in the sea ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ River running free ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Blossom on the tree ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ It's a new dawn ♪
♪ It's a new day ♪
♪ It's a new life for me ♪
Captioned by Captionmax