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Mike Tyson Once Offered A Zookeeper $10,000 To Let Him Fight A Silverback Gorilla

Mike Tyson Once Offered A Zookeeper $10,000 To Let Him Fight A Silverback Gorilla

'Iron' Mike was the unbeaten heavyweight king when he offered big money to a zoo to fight a gorilla.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Yes, you read that right; Mike Tyson once tried to FIGHT a silverback gorilla for $10,000.

Tyson has actually always been an animal lover. He likes his homing pigeons and famously owned and cared some wildcats. We're talking exotic tigers.

However, Tyson once wanted to fight an animal. Not just any animal but a bloody 300lb+ gorilla.

In the 1980s, when Tyson was an unbeaten heavyweight world champion/wrecking machine, he went to a zoo with his then partner Robin Givens.

The pair had the whole place to themselves after paying to keep the zoo open after it had closed, allowing the champ to observe the animals without the massive attention that would usually attract.

Image: PA
Image: PA

As he sauntered past the gorilla enclosure, Tyson noticed one gorilla picking on the other primates.

Any normal human being would've continued walking past without batting an eyelid, but Tyson isn't your ordinary human. He took offence and wanted to enter the exhibit.

Not just walk in but, in fact, have an actual fight with the alpha male of the group.

He was prepared to offer the zookeeper $10,000 to open the cage so he could go in there and punch a gorilla.

Image: via Twitter
Image: via Twitter

"I paid a worker at New York's zoo to re-open it just for me and Robin," Tyson explained, looking back at the incident.

"When we got to the gorilla cage there was one big silverback gorilla there just bullying all the other gorillas.

"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 snotbox! He declined."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Mike Tyson, Boxing