Cus D'Amato was born in 1908 in New York City and opened his first boxing gym at the age of twenty two. His accomplishments include the training of the two youngest heavyweight champions; Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson. He pioneered the peek-a-boo style of boxing, which requires slipping punches followed by fast combinations.
Besides being a world class trainer, he was also somewhat of a humanitarian. He never charged a fee to those he trained in his gyms. He even took boys into into his home, such as Mike Tyson. To some he was their only father figure. D'Amato was always on a quest to find the next champion, but at the same time did not shy away from assisting young boxers in need. Cus D'Amato died in 1985. (This is an obituary of Cus D'Amato in the L.A. Times http://articles.latimes.com/1985-11-06/sports/sp-4777_1_boxing-club.)
Following this post will be other posts concerning his life as well as his training of his two most notable fighters, Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson, along with Internet links and video clips.
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