Iron Ambition: Lessons I've Learned from the Man Who Made Me a Champion

From the former heavyweight champion and bestselling memoirist comes an intimate look at the life and leadership lessons of Cus D'Amato, the legendary boxing trainer and Mike Tyson's surrogate father.

When Cus D'Amato first saw thirteen-year-old Mike Tyson spar in the ring, he proclaimed, "That's the heavyweight champion of the world." D'Amato, who had previously managed the careers of world champions Floyd Patterson and José Torres, would go on to train the young boxer for several years; he died a few months before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.

D'Amato played a huge role in Tyson's formative years, legally adopting him at age sixteen after his mother died and shaping him both physically and mentally after years of living in fear and poverty. In IRON AMBITION, he elaborates on the life lessons that D'Amato passed down to him and reflects on how the trainer's words of wisdom continue to resonate with him outside the ring. The book also chronicles Cus's courageous fight against the mobsters who controlled boxing, revealing more than we've ever known about this singular cultural figure.