- Mike Tyson said recently that one of his pet tigers in the 1990s attacked a woman who had trespassed on his property.
- The tiger “f—– up” the trespasser so badly he paid her approximately $250,000.
- “I didn’t know what they could do to a person’s flesh,” Tyson said. “I had no idea.”
- These days, Tyson has replaced the big cats with a poodle but he still looks back. “I loved them … [but] I shouldn’t have had them in my house. I was wrong.”
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Mike Tyson once had three pet tigers and he said one of them attacked someone trespassing on his property.
Tyson told the story to the rapper Fat Joe on a “Fat Joe Show” video posted on Instagram Live.
Tyson said he raised them as cubs and even placed an order for the animals while he was serving time in prison, likely between 1992 and 1995.
He told Fat Joe that a friend of his who imported cars said he was considering trading vehicles for some animals. Tyson asked him what kind of animals.
"He said, 'Horses and stuff, and my dad raised tigers and lions, too. If you got one of those that would be cooler than a Ferrari.'
"I said: 'Why don't you order me a couple, I'll be getting out in a couple of months.' I was in prison. And so when I got out, came home, I had two cubs."
Fat Joe asked Tyson about a story he heard, that one of the tigers jumped over a fence and bit a neighbor.
Animated, Tyson said: "No, no, no … Joe, that's not what happened.
"Somebody jumped over my fence where my tiger was and … started playing with the tiger. The tiger didn't know the lady so there was a bad accident."
Tyson said the woman tried to sue, but the case was dropped when they found out it was her who jumped the fence.
"Listen, when I saw what the tiger did to her … I had a lot of money back then so I gave her $250,000, whatever it was, because she was just f----- up," he said.
"I didn't know what they could do to a person's flesh. I had no idea."
Tyson said he was foolish back then.
"You know what I learned? I was foolish. There's no way you're going to domesticate these cats 100%," he said. "There's no way that's going to happen.
"They kill you by accident, they don't even mean to kill you. They do it by accident - too strong.
"Especially when you're playing rough with them, punching them, and they're getting hyped back, hit you back, then you're dead."
Tyson has replaced those tigers with a poodle, one who affectionately licks him on the mouth. But, these days, he still looks back and thinks fondly of the big cats.
Tyson said it was all a learning experience.
"I loved them, I used to sleep with them," he said. "I'm just happy I educated myself, I know it was late … but I was doing the wrong s---.
"I shouldn't have had them in my house. I was wrong."
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