My Interview With Kevin Rooney About Mike Tyson

By Scoop Malinowski

Kevin Rooney is one of the most famous figures in modern boxing history because of his important role as the trainer of Iron Mike Tyson, during the former World Heavyweight Champion’s most productive, exciting and devastating years from 1985-1988.

A few years ago I had a chance to chat with Rooney about Mike Tyson…

Scoop Malinowski: When was Mike Tyson at his best?

Kevin Rooney:  When he beat Michael Spinks (KO 1 in June 1988). He just wiped him out. Before that he beat Tony Tucker and Tyrell Biggs, the main fighters back then. He wiped out Tony Tucker – he won a 12 round decision. I mean, he kicked his ass. Then he knocked out Tyrell Biggs. He knocked out Larry Holmes, then he fought Tony Tubbs in Japan. Then he starched him in two rounds. Then he knocked out Mike Spinks in 90 seconds. 90 seconds. It wasn’t a joke. I mean he knocked him out. So I think that fighter, in my opinion, could have and should have probably beaten anybody that was in his path. AAAANYYbody, including Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali. Now I’ll give Muhammad Ali and Rocky – well it could have been different. I mean, Rocky punched like hell. Mike punched like hell. Rocky had heart. Mike had heart and was hard to hit. The fights would have been interesting. But I believe that Mike would have come out the better. Because he punched hard [laughs]. Mike… I believe that Mike is one of the hardest punchers in history. He punches harder than Rocky, punches harder than Joe Louis, punches harder than George Foreman.

Scoop Malinowski: Didn’t sparring partners hired to come to the gym to spar Mike see Mike punch and then leave the gym?

Kevin Rooney:  I can’t remember the guy’s name. I believe he was being paid $400 a week. This was in the early 80s. [Laughs] he gets in the ring. Bell rings. Mike comes out… bop-bop-bop, Mike throws combinations. He put his hands up like, Hold it. He steps out of the ring over the top rope – he was big, like 6-4, 6-5 – and walks out the front door. Didn’t look for his pay, just gone. We’re all like, What’s happening? We never saw him again. He wanted nothing to do with Mike. He just left. It was funny. There was a lot of fighters – Cus, Bill (Cayton), Jimmy (Jacobs) and Steve (Lott) brought in a lot of fighters – just do one round. James Broad was a tough guy. There was some guys who would stay in there and give Mike the work but they took a beating. I mean, every day they took a beating, every day. That’s the way Mike was – he was strong, determined and he wanted to hurt you.

Scoop Malinowski:  What would your strategy have been for Mike vs Muhammad Ali?

Kevin Rooney: I would want him to put tremendous pressure on him. Cut him off. Get him on the ropes. Wing body shots and the upper cuts, step the the side and if you got lucky enough, hit him with the right hand or left hook and he would be gone.  But see? Muhammad Ali was a great, great, great fighter. People couldn’t – we can call him the greatest fighter ever, he took a helluva shot, he never dogged it, he never quit. But the Mike Tyson I was training, coming off of Cus D’Amato…I just think that Mike would have won. Because he punched fast and hard. You got a guy that punches fast. Well, you’re a tough guy all right, well, so what? But when you got a kid that punches hard AND fast, then all the sudden you’re like, who, who, damn, wait a minute. Right away your hands are gonna go up. You’re gonna be on the move. You’re gonna wanna do this and you’re gonna wanna do that. You’re not gonna stand there and say hit me again. So Mike had that.

Scoop Malinowski: Which Mike Tyson fight were you most concerned with going in?

Kevin Rooney:  None. None. When I had Mike we were in training camp for five weeks. Back then I used to run three-four miles with him just to make sure he was doing it. And then we’d go to the gym. And then we’d go to a health club at night. Then we’d go to bed. When he was with me there was no partying. There was no, ‘Well I worked hard, I’m gonna go have a few drinks and try to pick a girl up.’ That never happened. Hey Mike, guess what? We got a title to defend and you gotta be in tip-top shape. So that Mike Tyson – if he didn’t cross channels and went with Don King – he would have gone down as the greatest heavyweight in history. Now people are talking, ‘Ah, he’s nothing. Dada this, dada that.’ But that’s not true.

Scoop Malinowski:  Is Tyson at his best the greatest heavyweight fighting machine that you ever saw?

Kevin Rooney:  Yes. I believe that and I stand by that. He was. Because he was elusive. The best thing about it was – these guys couldn’t hit him. When you can’t hit somebody, that becomes very frustrating. In boxing you – I’m trying to hit you, you’re moving your head and I can’t hit you and I’m like, What the f***. That’s what happened in a lot of Mike’s fights. They couldn’t hit him. And I could see them… ‘Mike, this guy’s ready to go, get rid of him. He don’t want to hang around no more.’ And why? Because I could see the frustration in their face. They’re throwing punches and they can’t hit him. Wait. I throw these punches against Tom, Dick, I hit him. I throw ’em against this guy, I can’t hit him [smiles]. That was Cus’s style.

Scoop Malinowski: What are your memories of Mike sparring with Lennox Lewis when they were teenagers in Catskills?

Kevin Rooney:  What I remember about it is that Mike dominated. He dominated. DOMINATED. They could say whatever they want to say. But Lennox was scared. He was scared because he tasted the power that Mike was winging. He didn’t improve (on the second and third days). He took a back seat. He was just looking to survive. That’s right. You got it right. They could say whatever they want to say. And when Tyson fought him (in 2002), number one, the fight sucked. Number two, Tyson quit. Tyson just quit. You could see in his eyes, all right, I just made $30,000,000… he lost his heart. He lost his heart. Because if you got heart, you’re not laying down. Then he fought (Kevin) McBride. He quit in that fight. He lost his heart. That’s what he lost. There’s no other way to describe it. He lost his heart.

Postscript:  The value of what Kevin Rooney says about Mike Tyson outweighs anything said by Teddy Atlas, the agenda-driven and sometimes incompetent boxing media, or any historian.  Kevin Rooney lived through it all and witnessed everything first hand, up close and personal. There is no other authority or expert on Mike Tyson more qualified or credible than Kevin Rooney.

This interview is an excerpt of my book Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson vs Lewis Championship Fight available at amazon for $11.99 and kindle version $3.99