‘He Almost Broke The Damn Glass and Got Out’: Like Mike Tyson, Shaquille O’Neal’s Silly Move Almost Cost Him His Life

Published 10/05/2022, 12:00 PM EDT

The world of boxing has its own urban legend, involving the legendary Mike Tyson and an equally legendary gorilla at the New York zoo. It seems like the NBA world also has its own story involving the mighty ape. In fact, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal recently opened up about an intriguing incident involving him and gorillas.

Shaq was a guest on the latest episode of the ‘Impaulsive’ podcast hosted by Logan Paul. Moreover, George Janko and Mike Majlak were present as guests for the episode. In conversation, Paul invited a female fan to the stage, who showed a 23-year-old picture of Shaq and herself taken at the Denver Zoo. This was when Shaq shared a little snippet. He mentioned, “So every zoo that I went to in the world. All the gorillas look at me and they go crazy.”

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He further continued, “So I go to them. And like I’ll mess with them and like they all come to the glass and they all do this [LOOKS INTENTLY AT JANKO]. Every zoo in the world.”

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Shaq also opened up about a rather scary incident involving him and an apex ape. He said, “They had this one albino gorilla in Philly. He almost broke the damn glass and got out. His name was Joey and when he stood up. And when he stood up he was like nine feet nine.”

When asked about what he would do if the gorilla actually broke out. Shaq responded by saying, “I’m tough and all, But I’m not gonna fight no gorilla”

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Shaq also added that he would have run away.

When Mike Tyson wanted to fight a gorilla

While Shaq was sure that he will run away from a gorilla. There is one individual who thought otherwise. The formidable once tried to bribe a zookeeper to fight a gorilla.

Tyson was a well-known wrecking machine back in the 1980s. This was when he visited New York’s zoo with his then-partner, Robin Givens. He also booked the entire zoo so as to avoid attention. At the zoo, he saw a silverback gorilla picking on the other gorillas. This was when he decided to bribe the zookeeper to let him fight the gorilla. Tyson said, “I offered the attendant $10000 to open the cage and let smash that silverback’s snot box. He declined.

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WATCH THIS STORY – Five Infamous Altercations Of Mike Tyson Outside The Ring

Do you think Tyson could’ve taken on the silverback gorilla? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Joshua Ben Joseph is a Boxing writer for EssentiallySports. He started his career as an editorial cartoonist and holds a BFA degree with a specialization in Animated Filmmaking and Screenwriting from AISFM, Hyderabad. An avid lover of boxing history, Joshua believes his writing extends his lifelong adoration for combat sports.

Edited by:

Ajinkya Aswale

‘He Almost Broke The Damn Glass and Got Out’: Like Mike Tyson, Shaquille O’Neal’s Silly Move Almost Cost Him His Life

When Mike Tyson wanted to fight a gorilla

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