Mike Tyson Once Offered $10,000 To Fight A Gorilla At New York Zoo – News18

Last Updated:November 18, 2024, 19:14 IST

The incident unfolded in the late 1980s when Mike Tyson and his wife visited a New York zoo on a private tour.

Mike Tyson proved his mettle when he decided to get into the ring at the age of 58. The legendary boxer went head-to-head against Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on November 15. Tyson did lose the match via unanimous decision but his resilience and spirit impressed many. Wondering how Tyson gathered the confidence to face a prime boxer of almost half his age. This treasured story might be an answer to it. In an interview with The Independent, Tyson revealed that he once wanted to fight a silverback gorilla during a zoo visit with his wife Robin Givens in the late 1980s. The couple had booked a private tour of the zoo in New York. Upon reaching the gorilla cage, Tyson noticed a big silverback one bullying the other gorillas. That is when the legendary boxer offered $10,000 to a zoo attendant to allow him to go into the enclosure so that he could teach the mischievous gorilla a lesson.

“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,” Mike Tyson recalled while speaking to The Independent. “They were so powerful but their eyes were like an innocent infant. I offered the attendant $10,000 to open the cage and let me smash that silverback’s snot box. He declined,” the three-time World Heavyweight champion added.

Mike Tyson is well known for having a soft corner for wild creatures. He earlier had kept two massive tigers as pets at his residence in Las Vegas. Tyson, however, later admitted it to be a “foolish” decision, referring to the risk factors.

“I was foolish. There’s no way you can domesticate these cats 100 per cent. No way that’s going to happen. They’ll kill you by accident, especially when you’re playing rough with them, you’re punching them back. They get hyped up, hit you back and you’re dead,” Mike Tyson said, as quoted by NDTV.

The match against Jake Paul marked Mike Tyson’s return to professional boxing after a hiatus of 19 years. In his heyday, Tyson was recognised as a beast who successfully defended the World Heavyweight Title as many as 19 times.