Mike Tyson reinforces his lifelong love for pigeons by revealing extravagant Christmas jumper featuring his birds, pet tiger and famous face tattoo
Former heavyweight world champion - an animal-lover and vegan - has long held a fascination for the birds
MIKE TYSON has designed what has been described as the 'best Christmas jumper ever'.
The former world heavyweight champion, 50, has released a festive effort which manages to feature boxing, his pet tiger and his love for pigeons - all on one sweater.
And he even takes a light-hearted swipe at his own speech, with the 'Merry Christmas' message changed to 'Merry Chrithmith'.
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Tyson wrote on his Twitter: "We wish you a Merry Chrithmith! Spread some holiday cheer and get your very own sweater here before they're gone".
Tyson has a long history with pigeons, going way back to his childhood - and has revealed the first fight he ever got into was as a 10-year-old after a bully ripped the head off his pet.
'Iron Mike' revealed: "The guy ripped the head off my pigeon. This was the first thing I ever loved in my life, the pigeon.”
An enraged Tyson responded with his fists - and would go onto the be the self-proclaimed 'baddest man on the planet'.
He continued: "That was the first time I threw a punch.
"I have loved pigeons since I was nine. They were my escape.
"I was fat and ugly. Kids teased me all the time. The only joy I had was pigeons."
Tyson is widely considered one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time and ended his professional career with a record of 50-6-2, with 44 of those wins coming by way of knockout.
But pigeons were his first love and are plastered all over the new knitwear - along with the royal Bengal tiger which he kept as a pet at a cost of $4000-a-month.
And Mike stunned a Lincolnshire pigeon farmer in 2010 when he unexpectedly turned up at his farm with his armed entourage.
Darren Peters recalled how Tyson arrived at his farm off the A17 and stunned him with his bird knowledge.
He said: "He was here for about two hours and at the end had to be told by his manager to hurry up because he was wanting to see everything we've got here.
"He told me it was the best pigeon coop he'd ever seen.
"Since he's retired from boxing he has started to concentrate more on pigeons.
"In fact, he didn't really talk about boxing at all – just pigeons."
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The Christmas jumper has gone down a treat with fight fans, who took to social media to praise Tyson for his sense of humour - and ask him about his prize pigeons.