Thursday, the legendary former heavyweight champion boxer and cultural icon Mike Tyson appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast for a 90-minute conversation that touched on everything from boxing to buying tigers. The two were even briefly joined by comedian Tom Segura, who has a pretty hilarious Tyson story of his own about the pair's first encounter a number of years ago.
As you can expect from any interview with the Baddest Man on the Planet, this one was filled with its fair share of insane stories. So, here's a round-up the five craziest moments from Iron Mike's appearance on the 1,227th episode of Joe Rogan's popular podcast.
The Time He Decided to Buy Tiger Cubs
Even the most cursory Tyson fans are aware he owns tigers. No, that wasn't just a joke in the first Hangover movie: This man was really on full kingpin status and owned white tigers back in the day. But the story about how he got the big cats is just as crazy. According to Tyson, he was talking to his car dealer while he was in prison when the dealer mentioned he was going to trade in some cars for horses. During the conversation, the man mentioned that the seller also had other exotic animals, like tiger cubs, and Tyson wanted in.
"The guy said, 'Man, imagine how cool that would be if you were in an Aston Martin or a Ferrari and you had a tiger right next to you,' and I'm a young guy. I'm in prison saying, 'Wow, that would be cool. Get me some cubs man.' So when I came home, I had those cubs right there waiting for me," said Tyson.
He First Did Acid When He Was 11 Years Old
Tyson admitted that he has never had a cup of coffee in his life, but he did first try acid when he was only 11 years old. Rogan kicked off the interview by asking him when he first began experimenting with drugs. "I was a kid, 10 years old, 9 years old. Smoking and drinking," Tyson said. "As I got older, I tried acid, probably 11. Real young."
He continued by saying that during the prime of his fighting career he was mainly drinking heavily and would go clean during training camps before fights.
One Time He Gave Away His Rolls-Royce to Avoid Getting Arrested
At around the 18-minute mark of the interview, Tyson mentions that he's probably owned seven Rolls-Royces in his lifetime. One of them was destroyed in a fit of rage by his ex-wife Robin Givens. "We were in some fast food joint ordering food. She went to get some money out of my pocket to pay for it. Some condoms came out, and she was mad. So, she got in the car and crashed the car into another car that was parked there," he said. "So, the cops came and said, 'Hey, what happened here?' I was afraid they were going to arrest us, so I said, 'Well, nothing happened officer.'"
Tyson ended up giving the damaged Bentley to a man who had suffered a broken arm from the incident because he wanted to avoid getting arrested that day.
He Used to Be Hypnotized to Win
Tyson was known during his boxing career for his vicious knockout power and ability to end fights before they could even really get started. The 52-year old told Rogan that his former trainer Cus D'Amato used to take him to a hypnotist when he was first training him as a teenager to ingrain the fighter mentality into him.
"You relax. You go in there and totally focus on blackness, nothing. They tell you, 'You're going to be a savage, an intelligent animal, you're working, you're going to do this, you're going to be a ferocious animal, you're going to fight both hands to the body, use your jab in ferocious fashion,' They sinked all that into me when I was younger."
He Wants Jamie Foxx to Play Him in a Biopic
According to Tyson, a movie is currently being written about his life. "I haven't seen anything, but it's going to be pretty wild." Rogan goes on to ask Tyson who will be playing him in the film. While nobody has been officially cast yet, Tyson says that he wants Jamie Foxx to get the role. "He can do anything."
Rumors about the film have been swirling since 2008, so hopefully Tyson's mention means it is going to finally end up releasing in theaters in the near future.
