Mike Tyson locked in legal battle after 'refusing to appear on livestream' with giant talking pigeon

The former champion has previously said his first ever fight happened when he was a child after someone killed his pet pigeon

14 Oct 2026, 18:27 | Updated: 10h ago

Boxing legend Mike Tyson is engulfed in a legal battle after he allegedly refused to appear on a livestream to be interviewed by a talking giant pigeon.

Gambling promoter Medier claims Tyson breached a sponsorship agreement in order to attend a fight with YouTuber Jake Paul.

The former heavyweight champion is accused of refusing to appear on the "goofy" livestream being interviewed by a presenter dressed as the bird.

Tyson is said to have cancelled an agreed appearance at a conference in Amsterdam in order to fight Paul on July 20 2024, in Dallas.

Lawyers for Tyson deny the breach was related to the Paul fight, and say disagreements arose when he was given a script for a "Talking Pigeon" livestream.

The script had him taking part in an interview show with a presenter dressed as a pigeon, but his lawyers say he agreed to be filmed playing casino games and to teach the presenters to box using a mannequin of his former opponent Evander Holyfield.

Tyson has previously said his first ever fight happened when he was ten years old, and someone killed his pet pigeon.

Medier, a Cyprus-based company which promotes online gambling brand Rabona, say they paid Tyson $833,334 £633,827) and are asking for the return of the fees and payment of damages.

The sponsorship was organised through Tyson's sponsorship company Tryannic, which is run by his wife Lakiha Tyson.

Ali Reza Sinai, representing Medier, said the fee Tyson would be paid for the gambling deal was dwarfed by "the 20 million dollars it is widely reported Mr Tyson was paid to attend fight in Texas".

Amanda Hadkiss, representing Tyson and Tyrannic, argued in written submissions that Medier breached the agreement by not being able to “georestrict” streams in specified countries and sending out press releases in the US where they were not licensed for gambling.

Giving evidence at the court in London on Wednesday, Tyson’s wife denied the live-stream with the gambling company was cancelled because of the contract with Netflix.

Mrs Tyson said issues arose as Meddier was unable to georestrict and the "Talking Pigeon" scripts she was sent were “goofy” and did not fit her husband’s character.

She added that she and her husband are not "super rich people" and they would not have rejected the money from the sponsorship deal without good reason.

The trial, before Mr Justice Richards, is expected to conclude this week.