Mike Tyson has revealed that his former pet tiger (yes, for those who don’t know, you are indeed reading that right) used to share the bedroom with him.

Beyond making boxing headlines, Iron Mike also attracts attention with regards to his antics outside of the ring. Today, we are referring to one of his many extravagant possessions, his pet tigers, one of which he owned for over 15 years.

Tyson owned three pet tigers, but it was one named Kenya who he developed the closest bond with, a bond close enough that the two slept together in the same bedroom.

In an interview with GQ, Tyson spoke out on his close relationship with Kenya, commenting: “I had a great affection for her.

I kept her, I slept with her. I kept her in my room. She stayed with me. I had her for probably 16 years.

Despite their supposed inseparable relationship, Tyson had to sadly give her up for various reasons, which he also spoke about during the interview.

“She was a massive monster.

“You can’t imagine the size of her. She got too old and I had to get rid of her. Her eyes and her hip got bad. And plus she ripped somebody’s arm off.”

Kenya reportedly attacked a neighbour who had trespassed onto Tyson’s property just to play with the tiger.

“Somebody jumped over my fence where my tiger was and … started playing with the tiger,” Tyson said. “The tiger didn’t know the lady so there was a bad accident.”

It is quite unlikely that his local pet store sold “Beware Of The Tiger” signs.

Despite the neighbour’s attempt to sue Tyson, he was not at fault since she was indeed trespassing on his private property. He did, however, give her $250,000 to compensate for the damage caused by Kenya’s attack.

“Listen, when I saw what the tiger did to her … I had a lot of money back then so I gave her $250,000, whatever it was, because she was just f***ed up.”

Tyson fought just like a tiger, so it doesn’t seem that unusual that he wanted a pet that was as ferocious as he was.