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Mike Tyson's love for pigeons recalls Brando's fictional boxer
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National And World News
National And World News
Mike Tyson's love for pigeons recalls Brando's fictional boxer
Mike Tyson, the self-styled "baddest man on the planet", will emerge soon in a television show as a former boxer with uncanny similarities to the one played by Marlon Brando in 1954.
Tyson's fascination with pigeons, to be featured in a six-part series on the Animal Planet channel, will call to mind Terry Malloy, the character that earned Brando an Oscar in On The Waterfront.
Both found solace in the raising of birds from the rooftops of New Jersey. Like Brando's character, Tyson has long raised pigeons, starting where he grew up in a tough part of Brooklyn, New York. He now keeps his birds at another rooftop coop in New Jersey, next to the gym where he trained for fights.
The man who infamously bit off part of rival Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 fight still spends hours at a time watching his pets, and says they have given him comfort during his turbulent life. He has owned up to 350 of them at a time.
In the show, to be broadcast from March 6, Tyson will describe how he was bullied as a child and would miss school to be with his pigeons.
He threw his first punch at the age of 10 when a bully killed one of his birds.
He said: "The reason for the fight was because the guy ripped the head off my pigeon. This was the first thing I ever loved in my life, the pigeon. I don't know why, I feel ridiculous just trying to explain it. They're so much like people.
"This ain't no hobby, I've been dedicated to pigeons, even when I have been fighting or getting locked up. What I love about the pigeon is their loyalty."
Such is Tyson's interest that, during promotion for the programme, he expounded to journalists about the role of pigeons in delivering news from the Battle of Waterloo onwards. His series, Taking on Tyson, will follow the former boxer as he fulfils a dream to race his pigeons competitively for the first time.
Tyson, the former undisputed world heavyweight champion, got rather further in his fight career than Malloy, a boxer who famously "coulda been a contender" but who was forced under pressure to take a dive.
The new television programme has already faced criticism from animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It says racing pigeons can be "dangerous and traumatic" for the birds.
Tyson, 44, was convicted of rape in 1992 and served three years in prison. He declared bankruptcy in 2003 and retired from professional boxing in 2006. His new show follows a highly successful cameo role in the 2009 comedy movie The Hangover.
Tyson's fascination with pigeons, to be featured in a six-part series on the Animal Planet channel, will call to mind Terry Malloy, the character that earned Brando an Oscar in On The Waterfront.
Both found solace in the raising of birds from the rooftops of New Jersey. Like Brando's character, Tyson has long raised pigeons, starting where he grew up in a tough part of Brooklyn, New York. He now keeps his birds at another rooftop coop in New Jersey, next to the gym where he trained for fights.
The man who infamously bit off part of rival Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 fight still spends hours at a time watching his pets, and says they have given him comfort during his turbulent life. He has owned up to 350 of them at a time.
In the show, to be broadcast from March 6, Tyson will describe how he was bullied as a child and would miss school to be with his pigeons.
He threw his first punch at the age of 10 when a bully killed one of his birds.
He said: "The reason for the fight was because the guy ripped the head off my pigeon. This was the first thing I ever loved in my life, the pigeon. I don't know why, I feel ridiculous just trying to explain it. They're so much like people.
"This ain't no hobby, I've been dedicated to pigeons, even when I have been fighting or getting locked up. What I love about the pigeon is their loyalty."
Such is Tyson's interest that, during promotion for the programme, he expounded to journalists about the role of pigeons in delivering news from the Battle of Waterloo onwards. His series, Taking on Tyson, will follow the former boxer as he fulfils a dream to race his pigeons competitively for the first time.
Tyson, the former undisputed world heavyweight champion, got rather further in his fight career than Malloy, a boxer who famously "coulda been a contender" but who was forced under pressure to take a dive.
The new television programme has already faced criticism from animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It says racing pigeons can be "dangerous and traumatic" for the birds.
Tyson, 44, was convicted of rape in 1992 and served three years in prison. He declared bankruptcy in 2003 and retired from professional boxing in 2006. His new show follows a highly successful cameo role in the 2009 comedy movie The Hangover.
Related : Mike Tyson's love for pigeons recalls Brando's fictional boxer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, National And World News
