Constantine "Cus" D'Amato
(January 17, 1908 ? November 4, 1985) was an
American
boxing
trainer. He trained two of boxing
heavyweight
champions,
Mike Tyson
and
Floyd Patterson
.
He once said, "The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It's the same thing, fear, but it's what you do with it that matters."
[1]
Cus D'Amato was born in 1908 in
Bronx
,
New York
to an
Italian
family of
immigrants
. He was one of eight brothers. In his childhood he wanted to become a boxer like his big brother Jerry. However, at 12 years old he took part in a
fight
and became
blind
in one
eye
.
D'Amato's love for boxing was so strong that the sport became a very important part of his life. He trained three champions although he never boxed himself.