Cas D "Amato. I present to you a detailed biography of the great trainer Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, Jose Torres, Rocky Graziano, Joey Hadley, Teddy Atlas and Kevin Rooney. Description of boxing style and training.

Childhood and youth

Constantino "Cas" D "Amato was born on January 17, 1908 in a family of Italian immigrants, in the gangster district of New York - the Bronx. In 1899, his father and mother moved from Italy to the United States in search of better conditions life. Cas had 8 brothers. Mom died when the boy was 4 years old. The young man was brought up in a male team. An example for him was his older brother, Jerry, who began his professional boxing career in 1915.

Constantino first crossed the threshold of a boxing gym at the age of seven. The results were not long in coming. He finished second twice in the national tournament in New York. Cas performed in featherweight weight category... As a very young D "Amato trained with the great Harry Greb. The boy was preparing to conquer professional boxing. However, his dreams were not destined to come true. In 1920, during street conflict A 12-year-old boy is completely blind in his left eye. A terrible trauma put an end to further career promising Italian.

This episode D "Amato considered the most difficult in his life. But this is what tempered in him an incredible character, which will make him the most famous coach of the 20th century.

Cas did not quit training. He set a new goal for himself - to open a sports hall. The boy began to combine boxing with the usual work of a bricklayer and carpenter. Part of the money he earned, he set aside for the construction of his club. In parallel, D "Amato gained experience in construction work. He formed a clear idea of ​​what his future offspring would be. Financial crises and lack of money extended the realization of the dream for many years.

In 1939, D "Amato finally opens his own gym - Gramercy Gym.

Coaching activities

The Casa Club was rapidly gaining popularity. He invented his own style, which was later jokingly called - " peek-a-boo". Cas emphasized that this style, based on fast movement, high arms and work at medium and close distances, is suitable only for young and strong guys and requires excellent endurance. One of his many students was. The two Italians quickly hit it off. . Rocky progressed faster than the rest. D "Amato planned to begin his advancement in professional boxing. Over the years, he has gained significant experience in boxing management. However, Rocky's talent was noticed by other influential people. In those days, it was difficult to do business without communication with mafia structures. Professional boxing was no exception. Graziano left his teacher and soon became the world middleweight champion and one of the most feared punchers in boxing history.

The second World War distracted the audience from the ring. Hall D "Amato continued to exist. After the war, in 1945, Kas met a girl who, by her grandmother, had Ukrainian roots- Camila Evold. He lived with her until the end of his days. The couple had no children. Camila's sister was married to Cas's brother, Rocco.

The uncompromising nature of D "Amato has led to numerous conflicts with influential structures in professional boxing. Cas has been suing IBC for many years -" International Boxing Club". This organization associated with mafia structures ( famous mafiosi - Frank Palermo and Frank Carbo), controlled more than half of all active professional boxers. D "Amato did not want to agree. The fight against the mafia almost led to fatal consequences. There were two assassination attempts on Kas. The war faded and flared up again. IBC" cut off oxygen"Fighters D" Amato in the professional ring. It did not break strong character Italian coach... He was looking for his talent, and, soon, stumbled upon a difficult teenager, who, under his leadership, became Olympic champion 1952 ( Helsinki) and world heavyweight champion. It's about great things.

D "Amato led Floyd to the title. Patterson became the youngest heavyweight champion. His record to be broken by another eminent student of Cas - Mike Tyson. Floyd was the first in heavyweight history to recover the title after losing. However, the paths of coach and student went their separate ways." D "Amato didn't want Patterson to box with. This led to conflict and rupture.

In the 60s, the boxing world recognized two more famous students of Cas - Jose Torres and Joey Hadley. Jose, in 1965, won the title of undisputed light heavyweight champion in a fight against Willie Pastrano and defended his titles three times. Torres became the first Hispanic light heavyweight champion and the third in boxing history from Puerto Rico. Joy, under the leadership of D "Amato, became the seven-time (!) Winner of the tournament" Golden Gloves"and a three-time American amateur champion. amateurs“Hadley defeated the future Olympic champion - Leon Spinks. Unfortunately, Joy's career was interrupted by a terrible infection. He still continues the work of his great mentor.

Mafia structures " pressed"and D" Amato was forced to sell his boxing club Gramercy Gym for a symbolic price of $ 1 to his friend - Bob Jackson. In 1970, he, along with Camila, left for a small town - Catskill, where he started life from scratch. Cas opened new club- Catskill Boxing Club, which was located directly above the police station.

D "Amato completely changed his attitude to training. Now he coached everyone. The main contingent: difficult teenagers from disadvantaged families. Cas spent long hours of conversations with them. He taught the children to set the right priorities and choose the right direction in life. One of these students was famous - After a successful amateur career, Kevin turned professional. right hand did not give the opportunity to reveal talent to the fullest. Rooney became one of the head coaches at Casa's gym. The famous Teddy Atlas played the same role. The character of Teddy was similar to that of D "Amato himself. The gap between the coach and the student was due to the most famous ward of Cas - Mike Tyson.

Kevin Rooney became the coach of young Mike. Tyson lived in the house of Cas and Camila. D "Amato trained young talent. They watched boxing fights for hours and analyzed different styles. Cas attended Mike's training, but due to poor health, Rooney was in charge.

Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history, breaking Floyd Patterson's record, and the youngest undisputed champion. He is the holder of many records that have not been broken to this day. Alas, the great D "Amato did not see his main student triumph. Cas passed away on November 4, 1985 from acute pneumonia a year before Mike won the WBC title against Trevor Berbick.

The legacy of D "Amato is still alive. Kevin Rooney and Joy Hadley continue the work of their teacher. Facts about Casa D "Amato

• In honor of D "Amato, one of the streets of New York was named -" Cus D'Amato Way".
• Cas was right-handed in life, although he could write and work equally well with both hands.
• His record in amateur boxing ( in 4 years of career): 39 - 7.
• D "Amato collected expensive watch brands.
• At the end of 2018, director Rupert Friend will begin filming the film about Kas D "Amato. The main role will be played by renowned actor Bruce Willis.

, New York, USA - November 4th) is an American boxing trainer who has trained many fighters in the professional boxing ring, including Floyd Paterson, Jose Torres and Mike Tyson.

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  Constantino D'Amato was born on January 17, 1908 in a rugged Bronx quarter called the "Classon Point section". His large family (9 children, all boys) immigrated from Italy to the United States in 1899. Growing up in an exclusively male environment (his mother died when the boy was only 4 years old), Cas dreamed of becoming a professional boxer like his brother Jerry. But these dreams were not destined to come true after 12-year-old D'Amato had a fight on the street with an adult man, as a result of which he was blind in his left eye.

  Despite this, Cas did not abandon boxing and in 1939 opened the Gramercy Gym. In it, he consistently "releases" strong boxers, one of which was Rocky Graziano. After training him as an amateur, Cas hoped to continue working with him after his transition to the professional, but Groziano chose another manager associated with the mafia and had more influence in boxing. So, for the first time in his life, Cas experienced on himself what a boxer's “theft” is in the professional ring. Nevertheless, Gramercy Gym has built a good reputation for itself.

  • In recognition of the merits of Cus D'Amato, New York City named the street (Cus D'Amato Way) after him that once housed a gym.
  • Leading Floyd Patterson to the top, Cas refused to cooperate with the IBF, which earned himself many enemies. However, thanks to his tenacity, D "Amato achieved that it was Patterson who became the first boxer to earn a million. Under the leadership of D" Amato, Patterson's boxing career took off. Already in 1952, Floyd Patterson became the youngest Olympic champion in history, winning gold in the weight category up to 75 kg. Professional career in professional boxing, Patterson was also successful. In 1956 he takes gold in super heavyweight and becomes the youngest champion. Patterson owes this success to the style of Cus D "Amato. Patterson had a rather weak jaw and was, to put it mildly, small for a heavyweight, but it was difficult for his rivals to fight with him, since he owned the technique of Cus D" Amato.

  Quotes

  • The first lesson I give the kids before I teach them boxing is a lesson about fear, what it is and why we have it. Fear is like fire. If you control him, as we control the fire when we want to keep warm, he is a friend. When you are not in control, it will burn you and everything around you.
  • A guy comes to me with a spark of interest, and it becomes fire. I add wood to this fire, and it turns into a flame. I add wood to the flame and it becomes a real fire.
  • When you can hit your opponent and he cannot hit you, then you are a fighter.
  • Those born round don't die square.
  • It doesn't matter who says what, excuses and explanations: only what happens at the end testifies to the true intentions.
  • Heroes and cowards have exactly the same fear. Heroes just know how to control fear, but cowards do not.
  • I believe that nature is much smarter than we think. Throughout a person's life, she creates pleasures for him and other people that matter to him. Then she takes it all one by one. This is how nature prepares man himself for death.
  • There are no stupid people. There are disinterested ones.
  • There are no natural punchers. There is a natural tendency to be a puncher, and these are completely different things. Nobody is born the best. You have to train and improve to become the best.

  Constantino "Kas" D'Amato is one of the most famous boxing trainers. Born January 17, 1908 into an Italian family in the Bronx, New York. When he was 22 years old, D'Amato opened gym Empire Sporting Club. He lived in his gym for many years and waited for the arrival of champions who could recoup his investments. Several times with his students, he was very close to winning the title of champion, but ultimately achieved his goal when his boxers stopped all relations with his competitors in the boxing field. One of the boxing champions that Cas saw talent for was Rocky Graziano, for example. Graziano took off as a boxer under Cas's close supervision, but later began working with another trainer and management team and became the world middleweight champion under their leadership.

  The first boxer with whom D'Amato achieved a world title was Floyd Patterson. In 1952 at Olympic Games in Helsinki, he conquered gold medal middleweight title sponsored by Cus. When in 1956 undefeated champion Rocky Marciano relinquished his title and retired, Patterson, who was then regarded as the number one middleweight champion at the time, moved into the heavyweight division in order to compete for the vacant title. He won it on November 30, 1956 by a knockout victory in the fifth round over Archie Moore. Cus subsequently chose opponents for Floyd who could earn as much as possible. more money and at the same time minimize the risk of losing the title. Among other things, Cas was wary of his pupil's fight with Sonny Liston. In the end, the fight did take place, it was 2 consecutive knockout losses in the first round from Liston. In fact, at that time, Cas already had the most minimal influence on Floyd, which may have been such a bitter defeat.

  
  The next person with whom Cas reached the world title was Puerto Rican Jose Torres - former champion light heavyweight. As Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres ended their careers, Cas faded into oblivion. He then moved to Catskill, New York, where he opened his new boxing gym. This was where Cas met future heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who was attending a nearby correctional school for troubled teenagers. D'Amato took Mike under his wing, and when his mother died, he helped to survive this misfortune and accepted him into his family. Tyson said about him that he was the only one whom he considered a father in his life. He is always grateful to him for the fact that he changed his life and gave him confidence in himself. Cas coached Tyson for several years, and on November 4, 1985, he passed away at the age of 77. A year later, Mike became the youngest world heavyweight champion in boxing history when he knocked out Trevor Berbick in the second round.

  “I used to say to Mike: I owe you a lot .... but he didn’t understand what I mean. If you weren't there, I probably wouldn't have lived for a long time. Nature is smarter than people think. Over time, we lose our friends who were not indifferent to us, and then the very interest in life disappears, because why live without meaning? I believe that a person dies when his desire to live disappears. Someone, perhaps, no longer sees the meaning of being on this earth, but on the contrary I see it and all this is thanks to Mike. I will live and watch him become successful. I will not leave until this happens, because if I leave, not only will I not teach him how to fight, but also elementary, he will not be able to take care of himself. I will lose when my pupil
  will become a champion, and I will only win when he becomes a champion independent of me. “- Cas once said.

  In the history of boxing, Constantino “Cas” D'Amato is also known for his discovery of the peek-a-boo style, where the boxer holds his arms very high and is therefore better protected. Floyd Patterson was the first to start boxing with this style, and Cas trained Tyson in the same style. Today many professional and amateur boxers around the world box in this way. Cas has also mentored a number of great coaching names such as Teddy Atlas, Kevin Rooney and Joe Fariello. In 1993, the street where Cus's boxing gym was located was named after him - Cus D'Amato Way.

  BEST QUOTES CASA D AMATO - The first lesson I give the kids before I teach them boxing is a lesson about fear, what it is and why we have it. Fear is like fire. If you control it, how we control the fire, when we want to keep warm, he is a friend. When you do not control, he will burn you and everything around you. - The guy comes to me with a spark of interest, and it becomes fire. I add wood to this fire, and he turns into a flame. I add wood to the flame, and it becomes a real fire. - When you can hit your opponent, and he cannot hit you, then you are a fighter. - Those born round do not die square. - It does not matter who says what, apologies and explanations: only what happens at the end indicates true intentions. - Heroes and cowards experience exactly the same fear. Heroes just know how to control fear, but cowards do not. - I believe in that nature is much smarter than we think. but creates pleasures for him and other people that matter to him. Then she takes it all one by one. This is how nature prepares man himself for death. - There are no stupid people. There are disinterested ones. - There are no punchers by nature. There is a natural tendency to be a puncher, and these are completely different things. Nobody is born the best. You have to train and improve to become the best. - I believe that a person is a professional when he can do what needs to be done, no matter how he feels. The dilettante is the dilettante emotionally. A professional is a professional in how he thinks and feels, and in his ability to act in the most difficult conditions. - A person who thinks or worries about being hit will not be in a state of good anticipation, he will really be hit. “If he hadn’t been here, I probably wouldn’t be alive today. The fact that he's here and doing what he does and making it better gives me the motivation and interest to stay alive. Because I think that a person dies when he no longer wants to live. But I have a reason here with Mike. And he gives me motivation. I will live, I will see how he becomes successful, because I will not leave this world until this happens. - When two people enter the ring, only one of them deserves a victory. When you enter the ring, you must know that you are the one who deserves to win. You should know that fate owes you victory because you trained harder than your opponent. You ran more, sparred more. - You are your own worst enemy (If you let it be!). “Losers are winners who surrendered ... even if you lose ... you still win ... if you don’t surrender.

  Constantin D'Amato (English Cus D'Amato; January 17, 1908, Bronx, New York, USA - November 4, 1985) - American boxing trainer who has trained many fighters in the professional ring, including Floyd Paterson, Teddy Atlas, Jose Torez and "Iron" Mike Tyson.

  Biography:

  Constantin D'Amato was born on January 17, 1908 in a rugged Bronx quarter called the "Classon Point section". His large family (9 children, all boys) immigrated from Italy to the United States in 1899. Growing up in an exclusively male environment (his mother died when the boy was only 4 years old) Cas dreamed of becoming a professional boxer like his brother Jerry. But these dreams were not destined to come true after 12-year-old D'Amato had a fight on the street with an adult man, as a result of which he was blind in his left eye. Despite this, Cas did not abandon boxing and in 1939 opened the Gramercy Gym. In it, he consistently "releases" strong boxers, one of which was Rocky Graziano. Having trained him as an amateur, Cas hoped to continue working with him after his transition to the professional, but Groziano chose another manager associated with the mafia and had more influence in boxing. So, for the first time in his life, Cas experienced on himself what a boxer's “theft” is in the professional ring. Nevertheless, Gramercy Gym has built a good reputation for itself.

  After World War II, in 1945 Kas meets a Ukrainian girl Kamila Evold, whose sister was married to his older brother Rocco. For the rest of her life, she became D'Amato's loyal companion, running the house where, under Cas's supervision, many aspiring boxers grew up, including Tyson who called Camila his "white mother". Cas and Camila were unmarried and had no children, other than the adopted 15-year-old Tyson. In 2001, at the age of 96, Camila died in her sleep and was buried next to Cas in the Catskill cemetery.

  After returning from World War II, Cas is suing the International Boxing Club (IBC). For 11 years (1952-1963) Cas waged a dangerous fight against the IBC, a powerful organization that monopolized professional boxing in the late 40s. Officially, it was run by renowned businessman Jim Norris (owner of the Detroit Red Wings club, as well as numerous stadiums and arenas), but in reality, all matters were decided by the famous mobsters Frank ‘Blinky’ Palermo and Frankie Carbo. One example of IBC shenanigans is Jake Lamotte, who had to lose the fight to Billy Fox in order to be able to fight for the middleweight title in the future.

  Fearing the mafia, Cas sells his Gramercy Gym for $ 1 to coaches Bob Jackson and Al Gavin and moves to Catskill. There, in 1970, above the police station, on Main St. he opens the new Catskill Boxing Club. Cas commented on his decision to leave New York: “I'm not paranoid. I just know that if they (mafia - B.S.) can get to me, I will have a bad time. So I did it accordingly. "

  Kas's goal was to help difficult children from poor families. All he asked in return for his lessons (Cas taught not only boxing, first of all he wanted to develop the personality of a teenager) was help around the house. One of his students was Kevin Rooney- champion of the 1975 Golden Gloves tournament. Raised in a family of alcoholics, Rooney became a devoted student of D'Amato. It was he who continued the work of the old mentor and led Tyson to the champion title. To this day, like his coach, he trains everyone in Catskill Boxing Club absolutely free. “He spent all his money on children. His hall was open 364 days a year, and on 365th he always threw a Christmas party for children. His costume was about 20 years old, but he gave everything he had to the children. ”Rooney recalls.

  In October 1985, a year before Tyson took the title from Trevor Berbick, Casa D'Amato is hospitalized with a rare form of pneumonia. Doctors were forced to put the patient into a coma to better fight the virus. But, Cas D'Amato never got out of it. He died on November 4, 1985 at the age of 77 from pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.

  In recognition of the merits of Cus D'Amato, New York City named the street (Cus D'Amato Way) after him that once housed a gym.

  Quotes:

  The first lesson I give the kids before I teach them boxing is a lesson about fear, what it is and why we have it. Fear is like fire. If you control him, as we control the fire when we want to keep warm, he is a friend. When you are not in control, it will burn you and everything around you.

  A guy comes to me with a spark of interest and it becomes fire. I add wood to this fire and it turns into a flame. I add wood to the flame and it becomes a real fire.

  Those born round don't die square.

  It doesn't matter who says what, apologies and explanations, only what happens at the end indicates true intentions.

  Heroes and cowards have exactly the same fear. Heroes just know how to control fear, but cowards do not.

  I believe that nature is much smarter than we think. Throughout a person's life, she creates pleasures for him and other people that matter to him. Then she takes it all one by one. This is how nature prepares man himself for death.

  There are no stupid people. There are disinterested ones.

  There are no natural punchers. There is a natural tendency to be a puncher, and these are completely different things.

  Nobody is born the best. You have to train and improve to become the best.

  Dedicated to Cas D'Amato (video)