Mike Tyson, has been embroiled in endless controversies ever since he stepped in the ring. From biting Evander Holyfield’s ear off, to serving jail time for multiple crimes to owning, and raising three pet tigers he has had an eventful life full of extravagance and outrage.
Since retiring from boxing in 2005, Mike Tyson has brought to light many of his eccentric tastes, including how he came to have three tigers living in his home. Tyson lived under the same roof as his three Benglas Boris, Storm and Kenya from 1990 until 2000.
One of the most interesting parts of the story is how he came to own the tigers. His three pet Bengals arrived as a barter for some cars owned by the American boxer while he was serving his sentence in prison: “I was in jail, talking to one of my friends that I used to buy exotic cars from. He told me that a friend of his owed him money. And he told me: ‘If you don’t pay me, I’ll take some of these cars and trade them for animals.’ I asked him: “What kind of animals?” He told me: “Horses and other things.” Mike, they also have some nice tigers and lions. If you had one of those, that would be great’, I asked, ‘Why don’t you order me a pair? I’ll be out in a couple of months. So when I got out I came home and I had two puppies.”
They lived in peace for a time, but after a walk through the Los Angeles neighborhood, right where he lived, the inevitable happened; one of his tigers jumped over a neighbor’s fence and tried to eat the her dog. “The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is here, I can’t keep animals in captivity,” he told his manager that same night.
After that, Tyson had to let go of his exotic pets, who now live in a sanctuary, and instead has a poodle named Mars and a flock of pigeons.
Why did he stop sleeping with his tigers?
The boxer who took down nearly all of his opponents in the ring had felt so comfortable with his tigers that and his tigers he chose to sleep with them in the same bed, but he confessed that it ended up being unbearable due to a peculiar reason.
“They start farting at night, and that fucks everything up, you can’t imagine that mess. You have to open the windows, oh crap. Fuck that. Also indoors. I say, “Why are you letting these motherfuckers in, Mike? You can’t get rid of them because they’re like farts and piss and bloody stains on the wall, on the floor, on the carpet, motherfuckers. So I got them their own house, and I put them in it. I bought the house next door and turned it into their house.”
