Mike Tyson has always been known for his antics out of the ring as much as his legendary performances as a boxer.
Tyson’s professional career stands at 50-7 after he was defeated by Jake Paul in November 2024 following a 19-year absence from the sport.
‘Iron Mike’ still also holds the title for youngest heavyweight champion of the world when he beat Trevor Berbick by technical knockout at the age of 20 years and four months.
His wild side didn’t stop the moment he left the boxing ring and has been involved in all sorts, including asking a zookeeper if he would be allowed to fight a gorilla in its enclosure.
There have been many wild things, but none as crazy as owning pet tigers.
Mike Tyson bought three pet tigers
At the peak of his boxing career, Tyson decided to buy three pet tigers, revealing on his Hotboxin’ Podcast that he paid £55,000 for them off the ‘black market’.
His three tigers were Kenya, Storm, and Boris, but he eventually donated Storm and Boris to an animal sanctuary after realising that they were too much to look after.
Kenya stayed with him and ‘Iron Mike’ even slept with the pet, living with the boxing legend for 16 years.
Sadly, Tyson was eventually forced to give up Kenya after an incident which resulted in him paying out £185k.
Mike Tyson was forced to pay £185k after pet tiger bit woman
Speaking to GQ in 2019, Tyson revealed that he was forced to give up Kenya due to a health condition but then later revealed that his pet had ‘ripped’ a woman’s arm off.
He said: “I had to get rid of her when her eyes and her head got bad.
“Oh, and she ripped somebody’s arm off.”
A year later, Tyson told rapper Fat Joe on Instagram Live that he handed the woman over £150,000 to apologise for the incident.
“When I saw what the tiger did to her hand, I had a lot of money back then, so I gave her $250,000 (£175,000), whatever it was because she was just —— up.”