Tyson, actor Stallone inducted into Hall of Fame
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Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson reacts at the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, on Sunday. |
Mike Tyson, the once-proclaimed "baddest man on the planet," was inducted into International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday along with actor Sylvester Stallone.
Tyson was inducted for his reign as heavyweight champion of the world, Stallone for his "Rocky" movie series, and the fans turned out in droves on a rainy, overcast afternoon in Canastota, New York.
Thousands packed every corner of the induction grounds, and Tyson was no match for the emotion of the moment. "I've got to be goofy about this or I'll get emotional up here," Tyson warned before trying to honor the late trainer Cus D'Amato, who became his legal guardian after Tyson's mother died and taught him the finer points of boxing in a gym in Catskill, New York, just a 2 1/2-hour drive from the Hall of Fame.
D'Amato died in 1985, the year before the hard-punching Tyson knocked out WBC champion Trevor Berbick in the second round to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20.
"All this stuff started when I met Cus, and Bobby Stewart (a social worker and boxing fan who introduced Tyson to D'Amato)," Tyson said. "I was in reform school because I was always robbing people.
"All my life I watched these guys. I look at them different," Tyson said as he looked around at a dais that included hometown heroes Carmen Basilio and Billy Backus, Jake LaMotta, Leon Spinks, George Chuvalo, and Marvin Hagler, among others. "Why would I want to be like these guys I always say."
Tyson paused briefly - the crowd erupted in "Come on Mike!" - and then he tried in vain to continue.
"Hey guys, I can't even finish this stuff. Thank you. Thank you."
If anyone could understand the 44-year-old Tyson's mind-set, it was Stallone, who penned the script about an underdog boxer from Philadelphia named Rocky Balboa and then played the part in the movies. "Rocky" was released in 1976 and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning best picture, best director and best film editing.
"I've never pretended to be a boxer. I don't possess those skills," said Stallone. "What I do think I have is an understanding of what goes on outside the ring. Outside the ring is sometimes maybe an even bigger struggle than what goes on inside the ring, and I was able to capture that. Then I believe that you can identify more with the fighter."
Mexican champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Russian-born junior welterweight Kostya Tszyu, Mexican trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, and referee Joe Cortez were also inducted.
Chavez, who grew up in an abandoned railroad car with his five sisters and four brothers, became a three-division champion, registering 88 knockouts before retiring with a professional record of 107-6-2.
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