Iron Mike stands for pigeon rights

PHOENIX, June 2 (UPI) -- Famed pugilist Mike Tyson attended a Phoenix City Council hearing to lobby for pigeons' rights.

Tyson, notorious for his sexual assault conviction and biting off Evander Holyfield's ear during a match, showed up at the hearing Wednesday to oppose a proposal to limit the number of pigeons kept in residential areas, the Arizona Republic reported.

"I am just here for anyone that's for the pigeons," Tyson said. They're pretty harmless. ... I don't understand why people would want to get rid of pigeons. They don't bother no one."

Tyson, who owns 350 of the birds, has been a pigeon-lover since childhood; legend has it he discovered his love for fighting when he pummeled a bully who killed one of his birds.