Mike Tyson Is Secretly A Pigeon Racer

Nobody expects Mike Tyson to be a bird guy. The man who knocked out 44 professional opponents and was once declared the most dangerous person on the planet has owned, raised, bred, and raced pigeons his entire life. "The first thing I ever loved in my life was a pigeon," Tyson has said. "I don't know why. I feel ridiculous trying to explain it." Growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, he spent hours on rooftops with his birds when the streets felt too dangerous. He threw his very first punch at 11 when a neighborhood bully grabbed one of his pigeons and killed it in front of him. He has owned pigeons through championship reigns, a prison sentence, bankruptcy, and everything else his life has contained. "Pigeons got me out of trouble, pigeons got me into trouble, and it's just been my whole life," he said. "I've done pigeons longer than I've done anything, boxing and everything. Boxing is over and pigeons are still here." Today he owns somewhere between a thousand and 2,500 birds across coops in California, New Jersey, Florida, and Las Vegas.

The hobby goes deeper than most realize. Pigeon racing is a genuine international sport where birds cover up to 500 miles at speeds approaching 100 mph. Tyson starred in a six-part Animal Planet documentary called Taking on Tyson, entering competitive racing for the first time with his own trainer, racing team, and strict protocols for feeding, vitamins, and vaccines. "This is not a hobby," he told reporters. "This is something we are going to do until the day we die." Iron Mike Tyson. Pigeon man. Somehow it makes perfect sense.

Source:https://www.aol.com/mike-tyson-says-owns-maybe-160100505.html