Did Mike Tyson try to fight a gorilla?
Mike Tyson once offered a zookeeper $10,000 to let him fight a silverback gorilla. The incident took place in the '80s when Tyson was an unbeaten heavyweight champion and widely regarded as one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet.
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Tyson and his then-girlfriend Robin Givens went to a zoo and hired out the entire place so that 'Iron Mike' could peacefully watch the animals without getting mobbed by fans. Tyson apparently noticed a silverback gorilla bullying other gorillas and he wanted to put the animal in his place by fighting him:
"I paid a worker at New York’s zoo to re-open it just for me and Robin. When we got to the gorilla cage there was one big silverback gorilla there just bullying all the other gorillas. They were so powerful but their eyes were like an innocent infant. I offered the attendant $10,000 to open the cage and let smash that silverback’s snot box. He declined," Mike Tyson said.
Mike Tyson used to own three pet tigers and also wrestled them
Mike Tyson has always been fond of animals and owned three pet tigers who used to stay in his mansion. Tyson has been seen playfully wrestling with the tigers on several occasions in the past. In an interview with GQ, Mike Tyson spoke about how much he loved his pet tiger named Kenya.
He also revealed that he had to let go of her as she bit off a lady's arm:
"I had great affection for her. I kept her, I slept with her, I kept her in my room. She stayed with me, I had her for probably around 16 years. She was a massive monster, you can't imagine the size of her. She got too old, and I had to get rid of her, her eyes and her hips got bad. Plus, she ripped somebody's arm off," Mike Tyson told GQ.
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