Mike Tyson’s first ever boxing match was like something out of a Hollywood movie, according to his then-coach Teddy Atlas.

After being discovered in a juvenile detention centre as a child, Iron Mike went to train with Cus D’Amato, for whom Atlas worked as an assistant.

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He won his first ever fight by knockout, of courseCredit: Getty
The 13-year-old spent a few months beginning to learn his craft before having his first real experience in the ring.

Atlas told the story on his ‘THE FIGHT’ podcast as he recalled: “I take him down the Bronx smokers when the time came for him to finally be ready to fight.

“By this time he was probably up to 195lbs/200lbs, he was 13 years old I think. How am I gonna find a heavyweight [his age who will fight him]?

“I had to put him in with a 17-year-old.”

Atlas continued: “So I put him in this ‘exhibition’, it was called an exhibition, bigger gloves, bigger headgear.

“We agreed, ‘Okay, we’re gonna box and we’re not trying to kill each other.’

“But I knew I had to look out for Mike. I knew this other guy was older, I knew this other guy would not keep his word.

“I just said, ‘Mike, be alert, see what he does.’ The other guy’s looking to knock him out.

“So within a minute Mike made him miss and it’s over. He knocks this 17-year-old kid out…

“Bang, bang, bang, hitting him with combinations, three-punch combinations. All of a sudden he pins him on the ropes. He hurts the guy, the guy goes against the ropes.

“Then he comes in, bang, he hits him with a left hook. The guy’s head goes like this [twists backwards], his body goes like this [limp] and he falls outside the ring.

“I mean, you talk about Hollywood. His mouthpiece goes flying, probably about 20 feet back and winds up in somebody’s lap. The legend of Mike Tyson was starting.

“But there was a problem right away, because now his trainer jumped in the ring to go after Mike. I went immediately after him.

“I was his father, big brother, whatever you wanna call it. Even though Cus D’Amato is the patriach of the whole thing, I was the guy there with him.

“I jump in the ring and go right after the trainer and we’ve got each other by the throat.

“He’s going right after Mike so I go right after him and I intercede, we got each other and I tell him, ‘I’ll freaking break your jaw.’

“I push him off and he backs up. Mike says, ‘What’s gonna happen?’

“He was still a kid. I said, ‘Nothing. Nothing’s gonna happen to you.'”

This may have been the first time Tyson scored a brutal KO, but it would certainly not be the last.