Boxing legend Mike Tyson bought a £50,000 tiger from Netflix star Joe Exotic, before it was donated to a local sanctuary

MIKE Tyson bought a tiger from Joe Exotic when he was serving time for the rape in the 1990s, we can EXCLUSIVELY reveal.

Iron Mike, who became the youngest heavyweight champion aged just 20 in 1986, was jailed in 1992.

But before his release in 1995, he splashed the cash on three Bengal tigers costing around £50,000 each.

SunSport has learned that Tiger King star Exotic, 61, was behind selling a wild cat to the boxing legend.

A source revealed: “Mike Tyson doesn’t know this, but Joe sold one of his tigers to him.

“Joe received the request through a mutual contact and was happy to facilitate Mike’s request.

“Mike was very specific and wanted a Bengal tiger after becoming fascinated by them when in prison.

“Being one of the very few people in the US able to source exotic animals, Joe was approached.

“But he didn’t hand the animal over to Tyson personally.”

Previously, Tyson, who is gearing up to fight Jake Paul on Friday, has alluded to the fact he believed the Netflix star was involved somewhere along the line in acquiring his tigers.

When he was released from an Indiana correctional facility, ‘the Baddest Man on the Planet’ bought three tigers, Kenya, Storm and Boris.

“It could have been, maybe where I got my cats could have got their cats from Joe. But I don’t know,” he told the Daily Mail in 2020.

“If you are in the exotic animal world you are aware of him.”

Tyson also admitted he was a fan of the Netflix phenomenon that made a star of zookeeper and tiger collector Joseph Allen Maldonado – better known as Tiger King.

“People always say these people are scumbags,” Tyson continued.

“But these are amazing people with what they can do with their ingenious minds and control over other people’s minds. These guys are born leaders.”

Exotic is serving time behind bars after he was convicted of 17 charges of animal abuse and two counts of murder for hire.

Tyson was forced to hand over his tigers to local sanctuaries, later admitting he was “foolish” to think he could have them as pets.

He told rapper Fat Joe in an Instagram Live: “I was foolish. There’s no way you can domesticate these cats 100 percent … There’s no way that’s going to happen.

“They’ll kill you by accident, especially when you’re playing rough with them, you’re punching them back. They get hyped up, hit you back and you’re dead.

“I’m just happy I educated myself. I was doing the wrong s***. I shouldn’t have had them in my house, believing they were domesticated. I was wrong.”

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Tyson also recounted having to pay a woman $250,000 after one of his tigers bit her hand off.

“Somebody jumped over my fence where the tiger was and started playing with the tiger,” he told Fat Joe.

“The tiger didn’t know the lady so it was a bad accident. She jumped into the property where the tiger was.”