Despite his recent loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, Mike Tyson’s legendary status continues to grow. While many criticised ‘Iron Mike’s’ decision to face a 27-year-old opponent at the age of 58, it’s clear that Mr Tyson has always been a risk-taker. This impulsive nature once led him to offer a staggering $10,000 to a New York zookeeper for the chance to fight a silverback gorilla, who was bullying other animals. The incident dates back to the late 1980s when Mr Tyson, alongside his then-wife, Robin Givens visited the zoo for a private tour.

“I paid a worker at New York’s zoo to re-open it [zoo] just for me and Robin,” Mr Tyson was quoted as saying by The Independent.

“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 snot box. He declined,” he added.

Mr Tyson always had a thing for wild animals as he kept two tigers as pets at his Las Vegas mansion. However, years later, Mr Tyson admitted that keeping the big cats home was not a good decision.

“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,” he said.

The standalone fight took place in front of a packed 73,000 crowd at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and more than 60 million households worldwide, according to streaming giant Netflix that promoted the bout.

Mr Tyson started off the match on a bright note but quickly tapered off as the rounds went by. After the end of the third round, Mr Tyson looked gassed as Mr Paul started landing the punches with ferocity. Eventually, Paul emerged victorious by unanimous decision after the two fighters went eight full rounds.

“This is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night. No regrets to get in ring one last time,” said Tyson after the fight.

According to Forbes, Mr Tyson is set to receive $20 million from the fight while Mr Paul will walk away $40 million richer. While the match highlighted that age had finally caught up with Mr Tyson, it also brought back memories, albeit in flashes, of Mr Tyson being a formidable force in his heyday.

Tyson‘s always been an animal lover. He likes his pigeons and famously owned and cared some cats. We’re not talking about your ordinary domestic pets; we’re talking exotic tigers.

However, he once wanted to fight an animal. Not just any animal but a f**king gorilla.

In the 80’s, when Tyson was an unbeaten heavyweight-wrecking machine, he went to a zoo with his then-partner Robin Givens.

He had the whole zoo to himself after paying them to keep it open after it had closed.

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

Any normal human being would’ve walked past without batting an eyelid. But Tyson isn’t your ordinary human. He took offence and wanted to enter the exhibit. As you do…

But he didn’t just want to walk in. Oh no, this is Tyson after all, he wanted to have a fight with the gorilla.

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

“I paid a worker at New York’s zoo to re-open it just for me and Robin,” said Tyson.

“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 smash that silverback’s snotbox! He declined.”

Mike Tyson on the red carpet in China. Image: Alamy

Another Tyson story shows a softer side to the former world heavyweight champion. Kind of. He didn’t take too kindly to a garbage man putting his favourite dead bird in the trash.

A crate containing his favourite pigeon was put into the trash compacter by a garbage man, who felt the wrath.

Tyson rushed out and hit him with a ‘titanic right hand’ that knocked him out causing the garbage man to convulse on the floor like an ‘infantile retard’.

Speaking about his childhood, he recalled: “One morning I woke up and found my favorite pigeon, Julius, had died I was devastated and was gonna use his crate as my stickball bat to honor him.

“I left the crate on my stoop and went in to get something and I returned to see the sanitation man put the crate into the crusher.

“I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with a titanic right hand he was out cold, convulsing on the floor like an infantile retard.”