Mike Tyson lived with his tigers in his Vegas mansion and also hired a trainer that would cost him $125,000 annually. While Tyson gave away two of his big cats comparatively early, he kept Kenya for 16 years. He also had to eventually part ways with Kenya as the Bengal was facing health issues and she ripped off a woman’s arm. This all happened in Texas where Tyson took along his tigers for his training camp along with their trainer.
“This one time we had to take them to Texas and the trainer knows the cat so he’s playing with the cat. This young lady came out of her house thinking she could play with the kitty. She( Kenya) ripped her hand off,” said Tyson. The woman proceeded to sue Tyson but lost the case. Iron Mike however gave the woman $200,000 anyway as she was in a very bad state.
Mike Tyson describes his sleeping arrangements alongside his tigers
Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was considered one of the most ferocious and wild athletes inside and outside the ring. He was famously known for keeping Bengal tigers as pets during his early days and to this recounts all of his experiences staying with the beasts. During one of the episodes of his podcast, Tyson also revealed what it felt like sleeping alongside his tigers.
The idea of sleeping around a wild animal is crazy enough for a sane person. However, Mike Tyson did it around two as he recalled the sleeping arrangement with his tigers. Tyson revealed that he shared the room with his tigers to sleep. The boxing legend further added that one had to sleep by his leg and the other on a bed next to him. While this incident is scary enough to make any grown man shiver in fear, Tyson was afraid of something much worse while sharing the room with his tigers.
“Sleeping with them is not that scary. It becomes spooky when you awaken in the middle of the night to find them fighting.
If you saw 600-pound cats fighting and collapsing around you, that would be frightening to witness,” said Tyson.
Tyson invested a huge sum of money in training his tigers. Eventually, he had to get rid of them as they were starting to cause huge trouble.