Iron Mike Tyson: A View from a Front Row Seat

By Donny Lalonde

What more can be said or written about Iron Mike? Well, my Publisher “Bad” Brad asked me to share my own experiences and thoughts about the “Baddest Man on the Planet”….

Of course like the entire boxing world as Mike was coming up, I too was fascinated by his meteoric rise and destructive results.

I did have a small window inside his life that was more so than most as in October 1985 Dave Wolf signed me to a management agreement and the first thing he did was hire Teddy Atlas as my trainer. I had spoken to Mike Trainer about managing me but he and Ray Leonard, at the time retired, before the Hagler fight announcement and had recently signed another Canadian with promise who had a great Olympic career – Shawn O’Sullivan. Mike proceeded to tell me he and Ray committed to Shawn that they would not manage anyone else while managing him so they couldn’t manage me. I asked who they felt would be the best choice for me. They said, Dave Wolf [former Ray Mancini, at the time retired, manager] was the best manager in the business.

I contacted Dave and set up a meeting with him and headed to NYC. First thing I did was go to Gleason’s Boxing Gym. I had been there years earlier and had asked Emile Griffith to train me. While there I ran into Teddy Atlas and we struck up a conversation. Teddy at the time was managing Donny Poole another Canadian and he was also was training him. Teddy confirmed Dave was the best man for me and on I went.

The rest is history….. OK I got off track for a moment folks, but back to Mike Tyson. Teddy had worked with Mike in the Catskills when he first got there and was first starting. In Mike’s book he confirms Teddy’s story to me at the time which is that Mike did something inappropriate to Teddy’s niece and Teddy says there was another incident with some elderly people where Mike was rude to them so Teddy wanted to give Mike some sort of admonishing but Cus was not for that since this was his Golden Goose/next Heavyweight Champion. Cus had developed the early stages of the career of Floyd Patterson only to have him slip through his grasp before becoming the youngest Heavyweight Champion in history. He wasn’t going to let this guy slip.

I saw the first Frank Bruno fight in Vegas at the MGM. At that fight Mike showed he could not only take a punch but also that he would come back from a big shot and keep his focus. It says a lot about him in his prime as one of the ATG’s (yes, I know, I love to use ATG) because his flaws in his prime were few, and his willingness/ability to take a shot like he did from Bruno and come back focused – on point moments later says a lot for his intestinal fortitude. To me, he displayed to everyone he was to be considered an ATG.

Of course that is all Teddy’s version and Mike has corroborated part of it in his awesome – awesome biography written by a long time, good friend of mine, Larry “Ratso” Sloman who is a genius writer which is evident if you ever get this book and read it. It is a page turning, faster than a speeding bullet, more shocking than the truth about the state of our world today! It was so exciting to read, that I could not put it down. How exciting do you ask folks? Well, maybe even more exciting than even Mike’s career! Get this book if you enjoying reading and if you love a book that is more electric than electricity! Mike Tyson, “Undisputed Truth” by Larry “Ratso” Sloman and Mike Tyson, grab a copy now.

Mike and I first met at an event around the WBC. I believe it was at the UN at a ceremony acknowledging the late, great, long time WBC President Jose Suliaman. Mike was very kind and very nice to me. I felt that when Mike was with Jimmy Jacobs, even after Cus passed he was a very likable, in fact, an engaging person who was a pleasure to be around. Mike is always and always has been a supportive and respectful person to boxers and my experience with him was so different than the picture Teddy had painted about him. I was shocked after all I had heard what a cool guy he was.

I met Mike at a press conference one time as well. I struggle to remember where it was at now but again he struck me as a great guy and of course by then an indomitable force in the game. As time went on, I went on to leave Teddy and became a World Champion, so Mike and I would run into each other at WBC events or at the now, if not before certainly after Mike’s book, famous NYC night spot the China Club. Now I was single, 27 years old and the China Club was full of beautiful women and the “scene” made it “THE” place to be at the time. I was there to either meet a girl I had organized a get together with or to meet one I felt or hoped would be there, or to meet one if I didn’t have a plan already in place. That was my “party”. Of course I would have a few shots of Tequila my drink of choice, no soft drinks, or pretend orange juice that bars use, just straight, healthiest possible Tequila…a couple of beers but I was and always have been quite straight since my “experimentation days” as a teenager in the 70’s….a couple transgressions in the 80’s but like 2 or 3..I was NOT a “party” guy. Sorry folks, I can’t give you more because it was no there…..

Mike was hanging out with Eddie Murphy the comedian. I loved Eddie. We would meet there once in a while and hang out a bit. Mike would have his bodyguards around and as it speaks to in the book, some crazy stuff would be going down but when I felt anything uncomfortable for me, I would just get up and go checking around for my girls or hockey player friends from the Rangers, who also hung out there after games or between them, and we would all have a great time.

That being said, I was in the scene when it was here and there in NYC or wherever I was in the world but generally speaking my party was a couple of drinks and girls girls girls… Yes, even before Jay Z coined that line, I was using it… Are they any laws for royalties on a saying folks?

Evander Holyfield had a press conference announcing that he was moving up from the Cruiserweight division that he had dominated since his Olympic/amateur boxing success. I was at the press conference and also at the China Club after celebration of sorts. As quite often is the case when fighters know each other or have met or just have mutual respect for each other, I had spent a bit of time in a training camp with the 1984 Olympic team including Evander in Pennsylvania a couple years earlier with Teddy Atlas and friend and other Teddy fighter Chris Reid. I in fact, do this with most people I meet because no matter what the media in this crazy world wants to tell us we are ONE and we are BROTHERS no matter what your skin color or religion is in my book.

I saw Tyson first, we hugged each other and said hello etc. Mike is and was awesome to me every time we spent any time in the same place. In my opinion he DID NOT rape Desiree Washington. As you will read in his book, by his own admission Mike did many despicable things in his life but raping people he did not need to do, girls lined up to jump in bed with him. Awhile later, I saw Holyfield. We embraced and said our hellos. Evander was always nice. I really don’t know Evander so I can’t expect him to be so warm to me but I would say in my interaction with him, he was not as genuine or as cool as Mike, but still a gentleman and nice guy to me.

My thought as I watched Evander disappear into the crowd was, wow, the difference between Mike and Evander was night and day. It was a huge man vs an average size, about 10 lbs more than me, and Holyfield in my mind did not have a chance against Mike. I can only say this about how shocking that was and that is that when they stood toe to toe before their first fight how shockingly larger Evander was from when we met. I know he worked very hard and I am not taking anything away from Holyfield’s career or accomplishments which I feel is as much an over achieving athlete as anyone in history being his size and accomplishments, number of fights with genuine heavyweights, defenses, number of titles etc…

But he among any other fighter in boxing in our generation had me looking at, wow, I guess Mike was maybe fighting more than just hard scientific training methods…..

As Mike became drawn into the world of Don King and Robin Givens his life and personality seemed to crash faster than after Buster Douglas knocked him down that last time. From that point on in my experiences Mike went from a great guy to a different person. Read the book! I am not selling Mike out here, he says it all and way more about himself in his expose assisted by the brilliant writing of Ratso. It was tragic to watch his decline for everyone who cared about Mike and as a fighter and as the person I got to know it was
heartbreaking for me. I wanted so badly to go visit him in prison but felt, he may not want me too since he had become the person he did and who was I to go there? I just wanted to show him and tell him my pain for and love for him. But I didn’t. After reading his book I wish I had.

In 2003 when I was training with Freddie Roach for my last comeback, Mike had discussed working with Freddie for that fight. Freddie shared some conversations he had been having with Mike. I was shocked, he was going to fight Lennox Lewis who in my opinion is one of the greatest heavyweight champions ever. He had a stellar amateur career and avenged his losses to Oliver McCall, Hasim Rahman and his draw against Evander Holyfield. Size wise and timing of life wise, Mike was in no shape to fight Lennox, read the book….

I was stunned that anyone around Mike would support him taking that fight. When I asked Freddie why? He said, for the money! I had yet to read the book, it wouldn’t be written for 10 more years, so I thought and asked Freddie, how and why after all that money could $10 million be worth going through the hell and back, maybe to never recover after what Lennox [a HUGE puncher] would do to Mike, what logical reason could there be for Mike to take that fight?

Money was the answer. I was like, Freddie, after making $300,000,000.00 if money is a problem for you, your problem is not going to be fixed by making more money! Please talk to Mike and tell him to save what brain cells he has left for himself, his kids etc..Sounds logical but after reading the book I understand. Crazy!

Now in fairness who was I at 43 to question Mike when I was doing the same thing. I made about 1% of what Mike did but it was still millions so I had no right to suggest such a thing as I was fighting for money as well at 43. In fairness, I just want to say that.

Mike seems to be thriving right now. Last time we saw each other was at the WBC convention in Vegas in 2012, Mike said, Donny Lalonde, my party buddy from back in the days….I was sad. Mike was there with his lovely, brilliant, wife Kiki. I was there to share my experience with natural ways to combat dementia from contact sports for boxers as well as many other benefits I know that natural medicine or preventative medicine can do to help improve the quality of the boxers. All 93 champions have to have some sort of impact damage from the years in the ring. I thought Mike could really reach people and help me show them these incredibly successful remedies that are 100% natural. Instead, he remembers me as a “Party” buddy….

Mike I love you. I am so happy about your speaking, acting, and boxing promotion careers. You have reinvented yourself in so many ways and in such diverse ways that you are showing the world what a “Champion” you always had the ability to be….