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Mike Tyson offered zoo keeper $10,000 to fight a silverback gorilla
Featured Image Credit: Alex Menendez / Contributor/Sam Al-Bawab

Mike Tyson offered zoo keeper $10,000 to fight a silverback gorilla

Mike Tyson once offered $10,000 for the opportunity to punch a silverback gorilla in the face.

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard Kaonga

Mike Tyson is one of the fiercest boxers in the history of the sport, but I don’t think he would have matched up well with a gorilla.

Ask a boxing fan who the greatest boxer is of all time and you could get a whole lot of different answers, especially when you take in to account which era and weight class.

But when you think of fearsome and fierce, few names can top Iron Mike Tyson.

Even at his age now of 57, I still wouldn’t want to get in the ring with him.

Even if you paid me millions, I'd just about manage it but consider it a sacrifice that I'm offering up my well-being so my friends and family can enjoy the new found wealth after my funeral.

But with all that being said, I don’t think Tyson could take on a silverback gorilla and win... but the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world disagreed.

Back in the late 1980, the boxer was seemingly on top of the world - he was unbeaten and at the peak of his power.

So according to Tyson, one day in either 1988 or 1989, he hired out an entire zoo in New York for a private tour with his wife at the time, Robin Givens - showcasing just how much of a celebrity athlete he was at the time.

Mike was seemingly on top of the world in the late 1980s, he was unbeaten and at the peak of his power.
Focus on Sport via Getty Images

During the tour, while seeing a gorilla in an enclosure, he offered to pay a zookeeper $10,000 for the chance to tussle with the hulking primate.

Thankfully for Tyson or (or the gorilla depending on who you ask), the offer was declined.

“I paid a worker at New York's zoo to re-open it just for me and Robin,” Tyson has said recalling the incident.

"When we got to the gorilla cage there was one big silverback gorilla there just bullying all the other gorillas.

"They were so powerful but their eyes were like an innocent infant. I offered the attendant $10,000 to open the cage and let smash that silverback's snot box. He declined.”

Mike offered to pay $10,000 to fight a silverback gorilla.
Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images

This story has also spread to social media with many fans genuinely considering who would win in a bout, a silverback or Tyson.

While many joked that the gorilla would have to watch out for Tyson biting its ear, he would likely get battered the death.

Simply because silverback gorillas are immensely strong and last I checked, they didn’t even hit the gym regularly or the punching bags.

Tyson likely came out ahead in the end, eh.

Topics: Mike Tyson, Boxing, Animals

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.