Mike Tyson's boxing career began after he snapped when bullies ripped his pet pigeons apart before his eyes.
The fighter-turned-TV and film personality reveals all about the terrible childhood encounter with local thugs in new documentary Tyson, and he recalled the incident during an appearance on U.S. TV show Oprah on Monday (12Oct09).
Tyson revealed he once kept racing pigeons and dedicated his life to training them, but when local bullies paid him a rooftop visit - he discovered he had another sport inside him.
He said, "One guy took the bird and he just ripped open the neck and puts the bird in my face... and I was mad. I said, 'Mike, fight,' and I just fought... There were incidents (after that) but I got confident to fight back."
Tyson became one of the most brutal boxers of all time, biting off the top of opponent Evander Holyfield's ear and serving time behind bars for assault and alleged rape.