# Bobby Stewart
**Bobby Stewart** is an American former professional boxer and juvenile detention counselor, known for discovering a young [Mike Tyson](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-tyson) at the Tryon School for Boys in upstate New York and introducing him to the trainer [Cus D'Amato](https://www.edgepedia.org/cus-damato), an encounter that set Tyson on the path to becoming heavyweight champion of the world.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Background | Former professional boxer; later a staff member at the Tryon School for Boys, a juvenile detention facility in Johnstown, New York[1](https://www.villagevoice.com/mike-tyson-dr-k-o/) |
| Role at Tryon | Described in sources as a counselor, guard, and physical education instructor at the facility[1](https://www.villagevoice.com/mike-tyson-dr-k-o/) • [2](https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/baddest-man-explores-boxer-mike-tyson-s-time-20348383.php) |
| Discovery of Tyson | Taught Tyson the fundamentals of boxing at Tryon, then brought him to Cus D'Amato's gym in Catskill, N.Y.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-25-sp-4953-story.html) |
| Date of introduction | The Los Angeles Times places the first visit to Catskill "sometime in 1978"; other accounts say Tyson began training under D'Amato in 1980, and one reference work dates the introduction to 1981[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-25-sp-4953-story.html) • [2](https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/baddest-man-explores-boxer-mike-tyson-s-time-20348383.php) • [4](https://new.zodml.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/epdf.pub_notable-sports-figures.pdf) |
| Continued involvement | Traveled to D'Amato's Catskill gym for about two years to spar with Tyson[5](https://www.aquatrainingbag.com/blogs/news/bobby-stewart-upstate-new-york-s-gift-to-the-boxing-world) |
| Own fighting career | Sparred middleweight contender Eugene "Cyclone" Hart in the 1970s at D'Amato's Catskills gym[6](https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/bobby-stewart-eugene-cyclone/82306) |
## Discovering Mike Tyson
Tyson was sent to the Tryon School for Boys after an armed robbery conviction in 1978, having accumulated a record of street crimes.[4](https://new.zodml.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/epdf.pub_notable-sports-figures.pdf) • [7](https://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2843773&sid=17305d81738d5d78ac480f14e5072ca5) Stewart, a former professional fighter on the Tryon staff, worked with Tyson on a boxing program there and recognized his potential.[1](https://www.villagevoice.com/mike-tyson-dr-k-o/) • [8](https://ringsideboxingnews.com/a-force-unleashed-just-18-when-he-turned-pro-mike-tyson-was-boxings-ultimate-destroyer-he-remains-its-ultimate-survivor/) According to Tyson's own account, he had already heard of Stewart before they met.[9](https://amp.foxsports.com/stories/boxing/the-story-of-how-mike-tyson-was-discovered-by-cus-damato-at-age-12)
Stewart judged that he had taught Tyson all he could about boxing technique and decided the boy needed a real trainer.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-25-sp-4953-story.html) He knew of D'Amato's boxing club in nearby Catskill and drove Tyson there to meet him.[1](https://www.villagevoice.com/mike-tyson-dr-k-o/) The Los Angeles Times, in a 1988 profile, dates the first visit to sometime in 1978, when Tyson was about 12 and a half years old; the Times Union and other accounts place the start of training under D'Amato in 1980, and the reference work *Notable Sports Figures* dates Stewart's introduction of the 14-year-old Tyson to 1981.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-25-sp-4953-story.html) • [2](https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/baddest-man-explores-boxer-mike-tyson-s-time-20348383.php) • [4](https://new.zodml.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/epdf.pub_notable-sports-figures.pdf) The sources agree on the essentials: Stewart saw the potential, made the introduction, and D'Amato took over the boy's boxing education.
**Handoff to D'Amato.** D'Amato, who had guided [Floyd Patterson](https://www.edgepedia.org/floyd-patterson) and Jose Torres to world titles and had moved to Catskill in the late 1960s, took Tyson on and later became his legal guardian.[8](https://ringsideboxingnews.com/a-force-unleashed-just-18-when-he-turned-pro-mike-tyson-was-boxings-ultimate-destroyer-he-remains-its-ultimate-survivor/) • [7](https://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2843773&sid=17305d81738d5d78ac480f14e5072ca5) Jose Torres, D'Amato's one-time light-heavyweight champion protege, recalled that Stewart thought "maybe Cus could make a boxer out of him" when he brought the boy to Catskill.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-25-sp-4953-story.html) Tyson began training with D'Amato and his staff at the Catskill Boxing Club on passes from Tryon, and in 1980, while still a ward of the state, moved into a boarding house run by D'Amato and his companion Camille Ewald.[7](https://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2843773&sid=17305d81738d5d78ac480f14e5072ca5)
## Stewart's own boxing career
Stewart was an active fighter before his counseling work. In the 1970s he sparred at D'Amato's Catskills gym with Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, a hard-punching middleweight of the era, and has described first-hand how difficult Hart was to work with.[6](https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/bobby-stewart-eugene-cyclone/82306) According to one account, a man named Baranski recognized Stewart's devotion to training and introduced him to D'Amato, which is how Stewart came into the Catskill orbit in the first place.[5](https://www.aquatrainingbag.com/blogs/news/bobby-stewart-upstate-new-york-s-gift-to-the-boxing-world)
## Later connection to Tyson
Stewart's involvement did not end with the introduction. For roughly two years afterward he continued traveling down to D'Amato's Catskill gym to spar with Tyson.[5](https://www.aquatrainingbag.com/blogs/news/bobby-stewart-upstate-new-york-s-gift-to-the-boxing-world) He was ringside at the Las Vegas Hilton on the night in 1987 when Tyson beat [Tony Tucker](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-tucker) to become undisputed heavyweight champion, having followed his former student's career as he had throughout it.[5](https://www.aquatrainingbag.com/blogs/news/bobby-stewart-upstate-new-york-s-gift-to-the-boxing-world) Tyson won the undisputed title at age 20 years and 4 months, the youngest heavyweight champion in history, and Stewart's role in the discovery has been a recurring element of documentaries and books about Tyson's Catskill origins.[10](https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Mike-Tyson-s-Catskill-origins-get-airtime-in-new-16199392.php)
## References
1. [Mike Tyson: Dr. K.O., The Village Voice](https://www.villagevoice.com/mike-tyson-dr-k-o/)
2. ['Baddest Man' explores boxer Mike Tyson's time in Capital Region, Times Union](https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/baddest-man-explores-boxer-mike-tyson-s-time-20348383.php)
3. [Will This Be His Crowning Glory? The Shoe Fits, So Mike Tyson Is Boxing's Sole Heavyweight Champion, Los Angeles Times (June 25, 1988)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-25-sp-4953-story.html)
4. [Notable Sports Figures (Gale, 2004), Mike Tyson entry](https://new.zodml.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/epdf.pub_notable-sports-figures.pdf)
5. [Bobby Stewart – Upstate New York's Gift to the Boxing World, Aqua Training Bag](https://www.aquatrainingbag.com/blogs/news/bobby-stewart-upstate-new-york-s-gift-to-the-boxing-world)
6. [Bobby Stewart Recalls The Tough Time He Had Sparring Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, Boxing247](https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/bobby-stewart-eugene-cyclone/82306)
7. [Tyson Article, BoxRec forum (Independent reprint)](https://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2843773&sid=17305d81738d5d78ac480f14e5072ca5)
8. [A Force Unleashed, Ringside Boxing News](https://ringsideboxingnews.com/a-force-unleashed-just-18-when-he-turned-pro-mike-tyson-was-boxings-ultimate-destroyer-he-remains-its-ultimate-survivor/)
9. [The story of how Mike Tyson was discovered by Cus D'Amato at age 12, Fox Sports](https://amp.foxsports.com/stories/boxing/the-story-of-how-mike-tyson-was-discovered-by-cus-damato-at-age-12)
10. [Mike Tyson's Catskill origins get airtime in new documentary, Times Union](https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Mike-Tyson-s-Catskill-origins-get-airtime-in-new-16199392.php)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Combat sports and professional wrestling › Boxing › American boxers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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