When the names Shaquille O’Neal and Mike Tyson come up together, you expect stories of championship lore and larger-than-life personalities. After all, the former NBA powerhouse and the undisputed boxing legend are titans in their own realms. But during a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the conversation veered off-course—straight into the wilderness—literally. The backdrop: Shaq interviewed arguably the most fearsome heavyweight puncher in history, and what followed was nothing short of cinematic.
While wrestling tigers might sound like the peak of extravagance, the heavyweight icon’s animal empire didn’t end there. On the podcast, the 59-year-old revealed that his collection of wild pets went beyond the striped beasts. Lions, cougars, bobcats—even they needed their space. And in true Iron Mike fashion, he didn’t settle for cages or barns. He flat-out purchased an entire property just for them.
In a moment that left both Shaquille O’Neal and the host wide-eyed, Tyson casually recalled, “Yeah. Well, I bought the house next door for them because the tiger didn’t like them in the house. So, I let them have their house, and I let the tiger stay with me.” The casualness of that confession almost eclipses the sheer scale of it. A neighboring mansion transformed into a personal sanctuary—not for humans, but for Mike’s sprawling lion kingdom.
The three tigers Tyson famously kept weren’t just for show—they reportedly cost around $50,000 each, with upkeep reaching $200,000 annually. That level of extravagance says a lot about why the boxer once flaunted a peak net worth of nearly $400 million—before filing for bankruptcy in 2003.
But for Tyson, these animals weren’t simply interesting; they were a part of his daily life, which was as wild as his wealth. His choice to buy a whole land for his pride of lions shows how much he spent in the 1990s. Tyson wasn’t happy only being the king of the boxing ring; he was also making his own real-life animal empire. Those actions helped to bring down his $400 million empire, but they also made him one of the most colorful and unpredictable people in sports history.
Mike Tyson Wrestling His Lion Kingdom
Shaquille set the stage by recalling their first real-world interaction with Tyson. More than just a celebrity meeting, it quickly turned into an Indiana Jones–style encounter. As Shaq detailed it to his audience, “So, I open the door… a white tiger comes running down the stairs.” That’s right—a full-grown white tiger charging into the room, prompting O’Neal to lose his cool. He continued, “I told my boy, I said ‘I’m not a gambling man but I wish I had a million dollars to put on the fight. I just saw this man stop a full-grown f*cking tiger…’” Yes, Tyson literally wrestled a tiger on the spot.
The host teased him, “Mike, were you big spoon or little spoon? Like, would they hold you, or did you hold the tiger?” Tyson deadpanned, “Well, at one time I held them, and as they got older, they held me.” The absurdity of picturing the former heavyweight champ cuddled by lions and tigers prompted Shaq to shake his head and laugh, “That’s when you got too much godd*mn money.” Tyson simply laughed along, adding, “Well, back then. Yeah… back then.”
When the punch landed hardest wasn’t in the ring, it was with Tyson’s spending habits. The heavyweight phenom splurged on multiple mansions, luxury cars, jewelry, and even gold bathtubs, hosting parties that could make Gatsby blush. But the tiger tale transcends mere flashy possessions; it serves as the emblematic moment of Tyson’s wildest indulgence. Shaq, the qualitative interviewer, couldn’t help but let out pure astonishment: “You slept with your tiger?” “Oh, yeah,” Tyson nonchalantly replied. “He would kill me. You gotta deal with him every day—for like two years.”
Today, Tyson stands a world away from those tiger-wrestling days. He has fought his way back from losing a lot of money and now has a net worth of almost $30 million, thanks to everything from exhibition fights to businesses in the media and cannabis. But this tiger story is nevertheless a very clear picture of a period when Iron Mike’s money—and life—had no limits.
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