Mike Tyson, the pigeon trainer

Natalia Rangel_247 - Boxer Mike Tyson's long-standing passion for pigeons has been documented in a special reality show on the Animal Planet cable channel, scheduled to premiere this Thursday, the 16th. "Face to Face with Mike Tyson" shows the former heavyweight world champion training the birds for competitive races and follows their progress. The sport is common and involves some technology. The pigeons are trained to fly up to a thousand kilometers a day, and each one has a microchip attached to its leg that serves to calculate the distance covered. The winner is the one that registers the highest speed on the course. But for this to happen, the bird must be trained to return to its place of origin. And in that, Tyson is a master. His connection with birds is long-standing. His biography states that he threw his first punch in childhood when an older, stronger neighbor stole a pet pigeon from his hands, cut its neck, and smeared his face with blood.

The champion also joined his birds in New York when he suffered the last knockout of his career against boxer Lennox Lewis in 2002. Tyson, who spent years in prison accused of assault and rape, has trained pigeons since he was a child. “I don’t know why, the first thing I truly loved in life was a pigeon. And I feel ridiculous trying to explain why,” says the boxer at the beginning of the program. The aviary on the roof of the place where he trained in his youth still exists today, and some pigeons have been there for 14 years. To make them feel at home, the aviaries must be cleaned several times and their diet balanced with vitamins.