He was a proponent of the peek-a-boo style of boxing, in which the fighter holds his gloves close to his cheeks and pulls his arms tight against his torso, which was criticized by some because it was believed that an efficient attack could not be launched from using the technique.

[2][3] Constantine D'Amato was born into an Italian-American family in the New York City borough of the Bronx on January 17, 1908, to Damiano (1868–1938) and Elisabetta (née Rosato; 1875–1913).

However, Cus stated in an interview that he did not hold any grudges towards his father for the childhood abuse, as he believed the beatings made him a better and a more disciplined man.

According to D'Amato, he spent his time at the gym waiting for a "champion", but his best fighters were routinely poached by "connected" managers.

One fighter discovered by D'Amato was Italian-American Rocky Graziano, who signed with other trainers and managers and went on to become middleweight champion of the world.

He beat Moore by a knockout in five rounds and became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history at the time, at the age of 21 years, 10 months, three weeks and five days.

[6] D'Amato also managed José Torres who, in May 1965 at Madison Square Garden, defeated International Boxing Hall Of Fame member Willie Pastrano to become world Light Heavyweight champion.

[5] There he met and began to work with the future heavyweight champion, "Iron" Mike Tyson, who was in a nearby reform school.

"Irish" Bobby Stewart, a former Golden Gloves Champion, was approached by Tyson while working as a counselor at the Tryon School For Boys.

[16] From October 26, 2017, through November 4, 2017, an international, online "Science of Victory" marathon was dedicated to the memory of Cus D'Amato.

Several journalists and boxers from Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Germany and the U.S. took part in this project, including Silvio Branco, Patrizio Oliva, Dr. Antonio Graceffo, Avi Nardia, and Gordon Marino.

[17] The marathon promoted the book Non-compromised Pendulum by Tom Patti and Dr. Oleg Maltsev, which reviewed Cus D'Amato's training style.