During a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, boxing legend Mike Tyson shared one of his most extraordinary personal stories. Tyson revealed that he actually slept with his pet tiger.
The story began when Shaq recounted his first visit to Tyson’s home. After ringing the doorbell and hearing “Come in,” Shaq entered to find nobody in the lobby. As he walked through the house, a full-grown white tiger came running down the stairs, causing Shaq to panic before Tyson appeared to calm the massive predator by wrestling with it.
What followed was perhaps the most surprising admission of the conversation. When asked about his relationship with the tiger, Tyson casually stated, “I sleep with my tiger.” This wasn’t a metaphor or exaggeration – the heavyweight champion literally shared his bed with one of nature’s most dangerous predators.
“Hell yeah,” Tyson confirmed when pressed about sleeping with the tiger. “I going to get the kill me. You got to be with him every day for like two years. Every day.” This daily bonding was apparently crucial to maintaining a safe relationship with the animal, though “safe” is clearly a relative term when dealing with a tiger.
The commitment to his exotic pets was so complete that Tyson even traveled with them. “When I travel I bought a 18-wheeler. So when I travel to another state of Santa, they had to come with me,” he explained.
The sleeping arrangement evolved over time, with Tyson describing the dynamic: “Well, at one time I held them and as they got older they held me.” This touching detail reveals an almost father-child relationship between the boxer and his tiger, albeit one that could have turned deadly at any moment.
Tyson’s menagerie wasn’t limited to tigers. He also owned lions, cougars, and bobcats, eventually buying the house next door specifically for his other exotic animals. “I let them have their house and I let the tiger stay with me,” he explained.
While Tyson did experience some danger – noting that “the lion bit me, not the tiger” – his relationship with his sleeping partner remained remarkably safe. Tyson’s fearlessness and his genuine affection for these magnificent predators are quite a story.
