Here’s something you might not know offhand: former heavyweight Mike Tyson has a love for something other than the boxing ring — birds. In fact, his first fight as a child was over a bird.
Why wouldn’t Animal Planet snap that up?
According to a release sent from the network yesterday, Tyson is working on a new series, tentatively titled Taking on Tyson, in which the 43-year-old goes inside the world of pigeon racing.
“Tyson’s passion for his pigeons takes my breath away,” the president and general manager of Animal Planet Media, Marjorie Kaplan, said in the release.
“For years he’s been inspired by these birds. Tyson shows us a whole world we never knew existed right on the rooftops of New York City.”
The project begins filming this spring and will air in early 2011. Although Tyson has always had an affinity for these birds, he has never raced them.
“I feel a great pride acting as an official representative for all the pigeon fanciers out there,” Tyson said. “I want people to see why we love these birds.”
Joining Tyson on the series are his trainer, Vinnie Torre, his caretakers, the Roman Brothers, and his promoter and manager, Mario Costa.
The series is executive-produced by Malcolm Brinkworth, who recently worked on TLC’s documentary Sextistics: Your Love Life.
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