And yet he was destined to live out the American dream. Of course, by then, he was already drinking hard, smoking angel dust and snorting cocaine, on the sly. His first major tournament was the Junior Olympics of 1981 where he won gold by knocking out his rival in eight seconds. D’Amato also taught Tyson the importance of sport literature, introducing him to the writings of the great writer Gay Talese, besides others. The young Tyson also gorged on books on boxers at his coach’s home where he also trained hard in the defence-oriented peek-a-boo style. True to the spirit of his mentor’s teachings, Tyson says he “fought to hurt people”, and not “just to win”. “I was this useless Thoazined-out (under psychiatric medication) nigga who was diagnosed as retarded and this old white guy gets hold of me and gives me an ego,” Tyson recalls. “You are the best fighter,” D’Amato kept saying, and soon Tyson started believing him. The coach used the power of affirmation to train Tyson, besides putting him through rigorous physical training. Tyson talks about how D’Amato instilled confidence in him – nobody had said a good thing about him until then.
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