Mike Tyson “Never Hurt Anybody Until Somebody Hurt One of (his) Birds”

It was announced this past weekend that former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world “Iron” Mike Tyson has agreed to star in a reality show on Animal Planet about the fierce and competitive world of pigeon racing.

The show will be called Taking on Tyson , and it is scheduled to premier in early 2011.

“I may have stopped fighting,” said Tyson, 43, still the youngest man to ever capture the heavyweight crown at 20. “But I never stopped flying birds. It’s my first love.”

Tyson (50-6-0-2, 44 KOs), who lost three of his final four bouts as a prizefighter, retired after he suffered an embarrassing sixth-round TKO loss to Kevin McBride (34-6-1, 29 KOs) in June 2005.

“Iron” Mike was an extraordinarily skilled and powerful boxer who could have trumped any fighter on a given evening during the prime of his career.

Unfortunately, Tyson is not universally lauded as the great pugilist that he was due to the vicious and bizarre antics that long plagued his life both inside and outside of the ring.

Many individuals simply consider Tyson to be nothing more than a cannibalistic rapist.

This upcoming program, coupled with the humbling look into his life in the critically-acclaimed 2008 documentary Tyson , could drastically alter “Iron Mike’s” public image.

Tyson was born and raised in the gritty Brownsville section of Brooklyn in New York City.

“Kid Dynamite” became a product of his surroundings, and he turned to crime at a young age as a way to survive.

Despite his gruff upbringing, Tyson was allegedly not violent until a bully messed with one of his beloved pigeons.

“I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with titanic right hand,” recalled Tyson of the incident that ultimately spawned his livelihood as a boxer. “He was out cold, convulsing on the floor like an infantile retard. I never hurt anybody until somebody hurt one of my birds.”

Tyson estimated that he currently owns “a few hundred birds” that stay in two of his lofts in Brooklyn and Jersey City.

The man that Ring Magazine ranked No. 16 on its list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time has decided to team with a trainer named Vinnie Torre to prepare his birds for competition.

Thousands of dollars are routinely wagered on racing pigeons that travel distances up to 500 miles.

“Mike will be the underdog this time,” said Marjorie Kaplan, the head of Animal Planet . “We’re just lucky to have Mike Tyson to show us around.”

Deservedly, Mike Tyson was once one of the most feared individuals in the world.

However, Tyson appears to be softening with age and he has somehow managed to become an almost likable individual. 

Perhaps at his core Tyson isn’t a genuine menace.

After all, Tyson “never hurt anybody until somebody hurt one of [his] birds.”