“It wasn’t my style to shout,” he explains. Snowell, undeterred, spoke quietly in the corner and insists he was never tempted to scream at his charge even though it seemed a firm approach should have been administered. Buster jabbed like his life depended on it – in a way, maybe it did – and each thudding blow peeled back a layer of Tyson’s decaying defence. With each passing round, Douglas’ dominance increased in front of a hushed crowd who displayed little emotion despite the monumental drama that was unfolding before their eyes. Myself and Mike were too experienced to cut any corners in training and he really put in the hard work but his head wasn’t right and you could see that from the first exchange.” “There was a lot to come after the fight, a huge fight with Evander Holyfield was building and to face Holyfield we had to do a real good job on Douglas. “Of course not, it was Mike Tyson and believe me when I tell you that he trained hard for this fight because there’s no way he could’ve took the beating that he took for 10 rounds if he wasn’t in shape,” Snowell vows. Given Snowell’s efforts to describe Douglas as a threat before the fight, it’s easy to presume the trainer knew the writing of the most famous upset in history was already on the wall long before they entered the ring. Everyone who was close to Mike or who had been close to Mike was hurting him and here he is in a foreign country preparing to defend his world titles against a guy who to this day is still not given the credit he deserves for what he had done before this fight.” These people like ex-managers and ex-trainers were ex-managers and ex-trainers for a reason, telling every single person who stuck a microphone in front of their faces that they loved Mike and that they cared for Mike, yet at the same time they were taking him to court and trying to sue him for everything that he had given his life for. Mike’s weight was at around 300lbs when he was out of camp, he had so much going on with Robin and there was so many court cases from people in his past too. “That’s exactly what happened to Mike the day he fought Buster Douglas. Sullivan said about the women and the drink catching up with him?” Snowell ponders, rhetorically. That run of form came to a shuddering halt, however, on a day that Snowell recalls with military precision. Snowell, his long-time ally, was soon installed as trainer – in January 1989 – and the early results were positive. Armed with HBO’s finances, a roster of champions and contenders, and a persuasive charm, King claimed Tyson and in no time delivered glorious prizes and unprecedented purses. The eccentric promoter’s unyielding grip on the heavyweight division spanned several eras but was perhaps at its strongest when Tyson was approaching the top of a ladder he had scaled with brutal ease. The expected promotion duly came and with fighters like the explosive Julian Jackson and underrated heavyweight Tim Witherspoon under his tutelage, Snowell soon attained not only honours as a coach but a blossoming relationship with the powerful and commanding King. An eager student of famed trainer, “Slim” Jim Robinson, Snowell absorbed the expertise of the veteran cornerman and soon became his assistant. Snowell’s apprenticeship in boxing was served observing “The Greatest.” Born in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, Snowell was raised in close proximity to several Muhammad Ali training camps and it was there that his passion for boxing grew. His defensive riposte seems somewhat rehearsed, perhaps because it’s a rebuttal he’s forced out many times before, maybe even to himself, since Februand a morning in Japan that changed so many lives forever. There’s an authoritative tone to Aaron Snowell’s growl as strives to convince me of his qualifications to handle the meticulous training responsibilities of a peak Mike Tyson. “WOULD Don King, one of the wisest men boxing has ever seen, put me in the corner of the most valuable brand that not only boxing, not only sport, but entertainment had to offer if I didn’t know what I was doing? Would he?”
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