In the 2016 movie Bleed for This.
Contents
Amateur boxing career [edit]
Professional boxing career [edit]
Rooney began professionally boxing in 1979 and acquired a record of twenty-one wins, four losses, and one draw. In his most important fight as a professional, on July 31, 1982, Rooney lost to three division world champion Alexis Argüello, who was making his first fight in the Junior Welterweight division, by a second-round knockout. He also lost to future WBA world Junior Middleweight champion Davey Moore, who avenged an amateur loss to Rooney, by a knockout in seven rounds, on June 21, 1981.
Career as trainer [edit]
During the period when Rooney was Tyson's trainer, Tyson had a record of 35 fights, 35 wins (31 wins by KO). Rooney was then fired at the encouragement of Don King, who had successfully defeated Tyson to break all ties with the D"Amato stable. Tyson's mobility skills in the boxing ring noticeably declined after Rooney's firing and Tyson suffered his first loss in a professional fight 18 months after Rooney's departure.
Rooney was the second-closest trainer to young Mike Tyson, after D"Amato himself, who was also Tyson"s adoptive father and is most familiar with Cus D"Amato"s famed "Peek-a-Boo" boxing style. Rooney has continued to train fighters, working most notably with Vinny Paz who after hooking up with Rooney, won the light middleweight title.
Criminal arrest [edit]
In November 1994, after being stopped by State Police in Connecticut for erratic driving, Rooney refused to take sobriety tests and assaulted a State Trooper. Rooney was subsequently taken into custody and charged with driving under the influence along with assaulting a police officer and interfering.
Currently [edit]
Kevin Rooney continues to train young boxers in Catskill, New York, at the same gym that he trained under Cus D"Amato. He was involved on a Comedy Central comedy show, "Punch Line", alongside Bert Sugar, former world Middleweight champion
Articles / Boxing and other martial artsTraining video with Kevin Rooney. Healthy
Mike Tyson training program
Mike Tyson's daily routine
Monday - Friday - "working" days, weekends - Saturday, Sunday.
5 a.m.: Wake up and run three miles.
6 am: Mike returned home, took a shower and went to bed to get some sleep
10 a.m.: wake up, breakfast steak and pasta (Italian pasta) and fruit juice (orange)
12 noon: Mike goes to the ring and does 10 rounds of sparring.
2 pm: for lunch, same as for breakfast
4pm: Ring work including bag work, heavy bag last, shadow boxing and exercise bike
5 pm: Mike did 2,000 sit-ups, 500-800 dips, 500 push-ups, 500 reps of 30kg shrugs, followed by 10 minutes on the neck. Exercises up to the neck were done for 10 approaches - respectively 200 lifts, 25-40 on uneven bars, 50 push-ups, 25-40 on uneven bars, 50 shrugs, and then again.
Shrugs are an exercise to develop the trapezius muscles. Looks like a shrug. They do it with a barbell, dumbbells, or on a block."
8 pm: exercise bike again, 30 minutes.
9-30: TV and crib
Mike did this in 10 quick cycles: 200 squats, 25-40 get-ups, 50 presses, 25-40 get-ups, 50 shrugs. And so 10 times. And also 10 minutes of neck swaying.
At this rate, by the age of 20, he was already able to do 2,000 squats in 2 hours.
Mike carried out neck training, in principle, like that of wrestlers, that is, more precisely, he used one of the elements of wrestling training, since in wrestling there are several types of neck exercises. Mike did a bridge without arms with a steady swing on his head.
Mike used various training bags: for example, a small teardrop-shaped bag with sand that oscillated in front of Mike and he had to do constant inclines to avoid touching the slip-bag.
Mike hit the heavy bag last, the bag constantly swayed (if it stopped, then Mike swayed it), that is, without stopping it, he punches certain series, hits hard, quickly, as expected, very quickly returns his hands and immediately after the series makes body dodges , all this in constant movement around the pear.
Rooney: Mike's punching power was developed by hitting heavy bags for a long time, before turning pro he was hitting a 350 pound bag 84 inches high, but he injured his hand a few weeks later and we never used that bag again.
(Cas said that the weight of the bag increased and Mike’s striking power grew)
Everyone knows that Mike used a digital strike designation system in training and in battles. This system was developed by Cus D'Amato. Its essence is that the boxer works like an automaton, he does not need time to think about names, only numbers, and the boxer becomes a machine. When Damato trained Puerto Rican Jose Torres, he developed a striking training tool called the Willie Bag, after Willie Pastrano, whom Torres defeated in a title fight. Willie was made from five mattresses wrapped around a frame. On the front of the mattresses, a profile of a person was drawn, on which the zones that were the target for strikes were indicated; the zones have a digital designation:
1 - left hook to the jaw
2 - right hook to the jaw
3 - left uppercut
4 - right uppercut
5 - left hook to the body
6 - right hook to the body
7 - jab to the head
8 - jab to the body
It should be noted that these numbers indicated zones, not strikes. That is, 2 - can be either a right hook, a right straight or a cross, etc.
Cus made young Mike run with 50 pounds on his back in the morning because he didn't want Tyson to grow, because he thought his style and height were perfect for each other.
Training program after prison Mike Tyson
1. SHADOW FIGHTING
2. 4 rounds of three minutes (30 seconds break between rounds)
3. FEET WORK 6 rounds of three minutes (30 seconds break between rounds)
4. SPARRING
5. WORKING WITH A PEAR ON STRETCHES BETWEEN THE FLOOR AND CEILING
6. JUMPING ROPES
7. in the weeks leading up to the fight, Mike devotes more time directly to sparring, gradually increasing the number of rounds from 3 to 12 for three minutes each (a break of 30 seconds between rounds)
8. 9 minutes, followed by a break of 30 seconds
9. 20 minutes (at the end of the exercise there is a 1 minute break)
10. HEAVY BAG 6 rounds of 3 minutes (30 seconds break after each round)
11. WORKING ON A SPEED BAG
12. 5 minutes (after work, break 30 seconds)
13. EXERCISES ON THE FLOOR
14. COMPLETION OF THE TRAINING
15. 5 sets of 20 push-ups (30 seconds break between sets) 15 sets of 20 sit-ups and; lying position (30 seconds break between sets)
16. massage, shower, drink water
Mike Tyson and Kevin Rooney
Who among you does not know one of the trainers of the great Mike Tyson, Kevin Rooney? There are probably no such people among those who love and are interested in professional boxing and its history. In particular, the story of Mike Tyson.
Kevin Rooney is one of the has-beens himself. Of the former professional boxers, who, as you know, are never former, as well as police and intelligence officers. In a word, a profession is almost always forever.
Kevin Rooney had a good amateur career, the crown of which was his victory at the prestigious Golden Gloves tournament. Rooney is very proud of this victory. At the age of 23, Kevin Rooney made his debut as a professional boxer. In the professional ring, he had 26 fights, 21 of which he won, 7 by knockout. Lost 4 fights and all early with one draw.
Alexis Arguello and Sylvester Stallone
The most famous of Kevin Rooney's opponents was the great fighter from Nicaragua - Alexis Arguello, World champion in the featherweight (WBA), featherweight (WBC) and lightweight (WBC) weight categories. Alexis Arguello was recognized as the best boxer of the 20th century in the 2nd featherweight division by Associated Press journalists.
The 10-round fight between Kevin Rooney and Alexis Arguello took place on July 31, 1982 in Atlantic City (New Jersey, USA), exactly 33 years ago. The fight was promoted by Bob Arum.
So, Tyson's future mentor, 26-year-old Kevin Rooney, entered the ring against 30-year-old boxing star, Alexis Arguello (who had 76 fights at that time), accompanied by another mentor of Iron Mike, Teddy Atlas. One of Tyson's future managers, Jimmy Jacobs, one of the friends of Cus D. Amato, Mike's coach, was also present at the fight.
Entering the ring, Alexis Arguello walked up to Kevin Rooney and greeted him. Kevin Rooney also wished his opponent good luck in the fight.
The bell sounded and Rooney moved forward, landing first punches to the body, under Arguello's left arm. In fact, Rooney began to demonstrate Tyson's future style in the ring, but not as skillfully as Iron Mike. Some blows found their target on the body of the great Arguello. Alexis adjusted himself, aiming for the liver, and with a straight right to the head.
The first round ended with Arguello having a slight advantage in the second half, when Rooney was already starting to noticeably get tired.
When the bell sounded for the second round, the boxers immediately unleashed a hail of blows on each other, as if trying to quickly end this fight. They soon succeeded in doing this.
Finally, with a left uppercut-right straight combination, Arguello shook Rooney, but he stayed on his feet. Alexis repeated, but the series was not accurate. Finally, a right hand found the chin, but Rooney survived again. Alexis worked the liver and head with left hooks, giving Rooney no rest. Kevin was just defending himself.
The fight ended at 3:07 of the second round with a clean knockout. “Lulling” his opponent with light blows, Arguello aimed a straight left and hit a terrible right. Rooney collapsed and hung on the ropes. This fight could not have ended any other way. With all due respect to Kevin Rooney's courage, he really doesn't lack for that!
We must also pay tribute to the great master, Alexis Arguello, who did not jump for joy, but accepted enthusiastic congratulations with an imperturbable expression on his face. Alexis then approached Kevin Rooney, concerned about his condition, showing champion nobility. Truly, Arguello is a fighter whose behavior in the ring can and should be followed by example.
Alexander Kolesnikov
Alexis Arguello vs Kevin Rooney (video)
Kevin Rooney holds Mike Tyson's paws (video)
, the best from Kolesnikov
Photo: tysontalk.comAmerican specialist Kevin Rooney, former mentor of Mike Tyson and current coach of the French heavyweight Jean-Marc Mormeck, the next opponent of the absolute world champion Ukrainian Vladimir Klitschko, in an interview with a Sportbox.ru correspondent, spoke about nostalgia for the times of Iron Mike and shared his thoughts on the style of the current champion brothers .
Let us remember that Rooney collaborated with Tyson from the very beginning of his professional career in 1985 until the fight with Michael Spinks. After this, promoter Don King convinced the boxer to leave his mentor. As experts noted, after breaking up with Rooney, the boxer’s skill began to decline, and soon he suffered the first defeat in his career - from Buster Douglas.
- Mr. Rooney, it seems that many boxing fans are nostalgic for the times when Iron Mike ruled the heavyweight division. Why?
- Yes, because not a single boxer even slightly comparable to Tyson of those years has appeared. Mike generated tension and striking power in himself and was able to “convey” it to his opponent. If he lost, it was usually by the judges' decision. And he won mostly by knockout.
— Do any of the modern heavyweights remind you in any way of Tyson in his best years?
- This is a very tricky question. I will say this: when I worked with Tyson, he was the best boxer of his time. He had great hand speed and incredible power. Tyson of the 80s was capable of destroying anyone. Plus he had excellent management - everything came together at one point. He got the opportunity to earn a lot. He still makes very good money. Today he is forty-five, and there is no need for him to return to the ring.
— The best heavyweights of our time are the Klitschko brothers. But Americans don't seem very interested in watching them perform. Is this due to nostalgia for Tyson?
- Yes, that’s true, Americans are not happy with Klitschko, but mainly because they profess the European style of boxing. In America, it is considered a rule that it is not the best boxing tone if you work only with your left, occasionally using your right. This is very frustrating for Americans. On the other hand, Wladimir has an excellent rebound jab, he works well with his right hand, and therefore is a very dangerous fighter.
- Who could really challenge Klitschko? Povetkin, Chisora, Fury?
- No, my guy, Mormeck. And do you know why? Yes, because he perfectly studied and mastered Tyson’s style in his best years. That is why we agreed to the fight with Klitschko. I think he can beat Vladimir. I follow the heavyweight division and know who's who in it. Yes, all belts are in Europe. And, honestly, I hope that they will start returning to the States soon.
Alexander PAVLOV