The Wild Life of 'Iron' Mike: Unbeliveable and shocking stories from boxing's hardest hitter

Mike Tyson is a magnet for news coverage, and there is a good reason for that. Whether it's simply because he was partying it up with Cristiano Ronaldo at an exclusive boxing event – as he was over the weekend – or because he's getting into fistfights on long-haul flights (as he did last April) Mike Tyson has lived and continues to live, a wild life.

Image Credit – Instagram @cristiano

Tyson opened up about some of the craziest stories of his life in his highly recommended and at times baffling biography, 'Undisputed Truth.' Some of his tales are absolutely unbelievable. Let's take a look at some of the wildest and most shocking events in Mike Tyson's life so far.

Mike Tyson's brother Rodney was a fan of chemistry and had test tubes in his room. One day, Tyson sneaked in and started mixing chemicals, not knowing what he was doing. He created an explosion that blew up the room and provoked a fire that almost destroyed the entire house.

In the 1980s, at the top of his career, Mike Tyson visited the New York Zoo and asked to fight a silverback gorilla in its cage. He offered $10,000 in exchange. According to The Sun, the manager refused, for Tyson's sake, and the gorilla's.

On his podcast, 'Hotboxing,' Tyson recalled the day he met Michael Jackson through boxing promoter Don King. Jackson didn't recognize him. "I've always hated him. That hit my ego. It broke it," he admitted.

Jackson met Tyson in 1986 when he was already at the top of his boxing career. So the boxer claims to be confident that the singer did recognize him and was only playing with his mind.

In 1988, while he was going through a complicated divorce with Robin Givens, Tyson met another famous namesake: Michael Jordan. It was at NFL star Richard Dent's birthday dinner.

Tyson's long-time friend and manager, Rory Holloway, recalled the night in his book 'Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson.' Holloway claims Tyson wanted to "bust Jordan" because Robin Givens had a brief relationship with him before they married.

In his biography, Mike Tyson recalls a night in 1989 when he showed up at the house of his ex-wife Robin Givens. She was reviewing a script with Brad Pitt, with whom she also had a brief relationship.

The boxer was only a little upset. During an Instagram live, Tyson claimed he is not holding any grudges against the actor. "If so, he would be dead," he said, in yet another demonstration of toxic masculinity and a hint of his abusive relationship with Givens.

In his biography, Mike Tyson confessed to spending as much as $40,000 a month on marijuana. He later managed a plantation in California, where cultivation is legal.

With all the substances he consumed, it would have been impossible for Mike Tyson to pass a doping control. He confessed to using his wife's and children's urine to pass the tests.

He used a fake prosthetic to hide the urine to avoid getting caught. Then he would go to the bathroom and exchange it.

In January 1990, as stated in his biography, Mike Tyson flew to Japan to face Buster Douglas, whom he completely underestimated. "I didn't consider him much of a challenge. I didn't even bother watching any of his fights on video," he wrote and added that he was more interested in going to parties and being with women.

Tyson fell in the eleventh round, losing all his championship titles. He justified the bad result by claiming he spent the day and night before the fight with four women. However, this defeat helped him focus and later win eight matches in a row. He recovered two titles.

Mike Tyson wanted a pet to match his eccentric manner. That is how Kenya, a 550 pounds Bengal tiger, came into his life. He spent a lot of time with her and even slept with her.

One day, according to Tyson's his biography, a woman jumped the fence of his house to play with Kenya. The tiger almost tore off half her arm. "When I saw what she did to her hand, I had a lot of money back then, so I gave her $250,000," he recalls. That day he realized he was uneducated about the dangers of having a 550-pound pet.

In March 1992, Mike Tyson was sentenced to 10 years for the sexual assault of Desiree Washington. He only spent three years in jail and was then released for good behavior. That was the darkest and most unfortunate episode in the life of the sports star, who was always on edge.

One of the advantages of being Myke Tyson, as told by himself, is the lack of accountability. On his podcast, 'Hotboxing,' Tyson told how a police officer stopped him driving with more than a few drinks and other substances on himself. The officer drove him to his destination with just a warning.

Despite his substance abuse problem, Mike Tyson wanted more. In 2017, he decided to try a substance known as 5-MeO-DMT, produced by the famous Sonora Desert Toad. That experience would change his life, he confessed on his podcast.

Tyson spoke about his experience with the toad to the New York Post during a psychedelic conference in Miami. He said "he died" during his first trip and has consumed it at least 50 times since. "The toad has taught me that I will not be here forever. There's an expiration date," assured the former boxer. He claimed he stopped abusing other substances, lost 100 pounds in three months, and started boxing again.

During a fight against Evander Holyfield, Tyson committed his most famous act of unjustified violence. The 1997 match was called the fight of the century, and it took place in Las Vegas on June 28. Tyson bit Holyfield in the ear two times. He ripped a tiny piece off the second time, and the referee called the match in Holyfield's favor.

"I was angry Evan had headbutted me. It's no excuse, but I just wanted to hurt him so badly," he told Oprah Winfrey several years later. Tyson also confessed that he was angry because Holyfield was a great fighter.

During the same show, Oprah managed to sit both boxers down together. Tyson stopped short of apologizing but said: "This is a beautiful guy. I want you to know it's been a pleasure passing through life, being acquainted with you." Holyfield, on the other hand, did forgive him.