Former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson is a household name for more than just his dominant performances in the ring but also his antics outside of it, including his intriguing choice of pet.
Mike Tyson completed his career with a record of 50-6, though after an unsuccessful return to the ring in November 2024 against Jake Paul, has seen his record move to 50-7.
Tyson to this day holds the record for becoming the youngest heavyweight world champion ever, aged only 20 years old and four months.
He won the title from Trevor Berbick, before fulfilling a promise he made to Muhammad Ali and defeating Larry Holmes.
Inside the ring, he was a force to be reckoned with, and Tyson soon became the most feared teenager in boxing.
Outside of the ring, Tyson has been involved in all kinds of antics, from starring in ‘The Hangover’ alongside Bradley Cooper, to flogging marijuana candies shaped like ears following his infamous biting incident against Evander Holyfield, to asking a zookeeper if he could fight a gorilla in its enclosure.
‘Iron Mike’ has had a crazy life, but perhaps one of the most crazy parts is his feline friendship.
It was while Tyson was behind bars that a friend of his ordered tiger cubs on his behalf, with Tyson reportedly paying $150,000 for the big cats.
The incident that made Mike Tyson give his tigers away
Speaking to GQ, Tyson spoke of one of his tigers, ‘Kenya’, who he said “was around 550 pounds”. Tyson said: “I had a great affection for her, I kept her, I slept with her […] I had her for probably sixteen years.”
Tyson did explain why he was forced to give the tigers away, stating Kenya “got too old and I had to get rid of her. Her eyes and her hip got bad”, before adding, “and plus she ripped somebody’s arm off”.
In an interview with Talksport Tyson did eventually elaborate on the gruesome incident, stating that a woman had trespassed onto his land to play with the tiger, and was left with a severe hand injury following an attack.
Tyson said the woman had tried to sue him, but the case went nowhere when it was revealed she had trespassed.
The heavyweight icon did however pay her $250,000, because, in his words, ‘she was just f—— up’. He donated his tigers to a sanctuary.
How a pigeon led to Mike Tyson taking up boxing
It is a well-known fact that Tyson is and has always been a big fan of his feathered friends, but so much so is this the case that Tyson’s entire career in boxing may have hinged entirely on one pigeon many years ago.
Tyson told of how he used to be bullied in his youth and how on one occasion a bully stole one of his pigeons and killed it, prompting Tyson to fight for the first time in his life.
Tyson keeps pigeons to this day and even travelled to Poland a few months ago to purchase 140 rare pigeons, as shown on his official YouTube channel.
Tyson most recently graced our screens as he fought Jake Paul on what was Netflix’s first foray into live boxing, though Tyson has now revealed the sad reason for fighting Jake Paul. Iron Mike has admitted that he has still not fully recovered from the fight.