- Mike Tyson will take on Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on Friday night
- The bout is the former heavyweight champion’s first official fight in two decades
- Iron Mike, once considered the ‘the baddest man on the planet’, is a bird fancier
Jake Paul gifted Mike Tyson a pigeon, which the former heavyweight champion pledged to feed to his pet falcon, ahead of their heavily-anticipated Texas clash.
Tyson, 58, will meet the YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul – who is 31 years his junior – on November 15 at the AT&T Stadium.
Ahead of the bout, Paul handed Iron Mike a gift in an apparent show of respect for the boxing great. He claimed to have ‘paid thousands for that’ when presenting Tyson with a Southeast Asian pigeon.
Tyson has long been known for his love of pigeons. Growing up in New York, he found that caring for pigeons during a traumatic childhood brought him solace.
But the offering was not as warmly received as Paul may have hoped, as Tyson claimed that he would feed the pigeon to his falcon.
Jake Paul handed Mike Tyson a gift during their face-to-face ahead of their November 15 fight
The Youtuber-turned-boxer claimed to have spent thousands of dollars on the Southeast Asian pigeon
The offer was not warmly received by the former heavyweight champion who said he would feed the bird to his pet falcon
Last year, Tyson grabbed headlines after he was spotted in a remote Polish village buying 100 pigeons from a local breeder.
He once said: ‘I was fat and ugly and kids teased me all the time. The only joy I had was pigeons. I’ve loved them since I was nine. They were my escape.’
He previously revealed that he finished a relationship with a girlfriend who killed and cooked one of his birds.
He also claimed he knocked out a binman with ‘a titanic right hand’ after he threw away a crate containing the remains of Julius, his favourite pigeon.
Tyson and Paul’s fight was originally slated for July, only for Tyson to suffer a medical emergency on a plane. An ‘ulcer flare-up’ saw Tyson become nauseous and dizzy before paramedics later came on board.
The veteran, once considered ‘the baddest man on the planet’, is nearing the end of training for the rescheduled clash – his first sanctioned fight for two decades.
Paul has won 10 of his first 11 fights since embarking on a career in boxing, with his only defeat so far coming against Tommy Fury via a split decision last year.
The YouTuber told Netflix in their recent docu-series that he felt ‘lost at the age of 21’ and thanked boxing for giving him the ‘wake up call’ he needed – forcing him to ‘sober up’ and ‘focus’ on his new found passion.
Tyson has long been known for his love of pigeons. Growing up in New York, he found that caring for pigeons during a traumatic childhood brought him solace
Tyson will be competing in his first professional fight in two decades against Paul who is 31 years his junior
Paul went on to add: ‘Los Angeles is this fast-paced life style. Drugs, alcohol, money, looks. I was lost in it as any 21 or 22-year-old with 10’s of millions of dollars and fame would be.
‘It wasn’t until boxing when I physically had to fight someone else that I had to be sober and I had to focus that I felt better. It was like this giant wake up call that boxing provided me.
‘I am just thankful that I didn’t die. It was pretty f***ing crazy. I kind of found my old self that had been stripped away from me in Hollywood. That’s when I started to realise ‘oh s*** I’ve caught the boxing bug.’ I was like this is all I am going to do.’
Tyson and Paul are expected to make their ring walks around 4am (Saturday morning) UK time. The fight will be broadcast live on Netflix.
