Inside Iron Mike's lost mansion

The spacious home in Southington, Ohio, was owned by heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson who lived there during the late 1980s and 1990s until his dramatic fall from grace following a conviction for rape and financial problems.

Featuring gold-plated furnishings, a mirrored ceiling jacuzzi and a swimming pool twice the size of the average family home, Tyson, now 48, used the property as a base while training for fights at Don King's facility 20 miles away in nearby Orwell. 

And while the iron gates inscribed with his name may now be shut, one photographer Johnny Joo, 24, was allowed inside to explore the property.

It features five bedrooms, several living spaces, seven and a half bathrooms, a full kitchen, a mini-kitchen/washroom, two attached garages, one external garage, full size pool and Jacuzzi, tiger cages and a basketball court.

Tyson decked out the mansion with crystal chandeliers, a pool larger than most homes, tiger print carpet and everything else necessary to make it his private party pad.

But now the property lies eerily quiet with just the shell of what was once home to the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at age 20.

Photographer Mr Joo, from Cleveland, Ohio, said: 'My journeys have taken me to some strange places but nothing quite like the abandoned home of a former professional boxer.

'It felt cold, rather empty and eerie - not so much a creepy eerie but a more interesting one.

'I knew Mike Tyson had once just hung out here and now I stood staring down everything that had been left behind.

'I loved the bathroom simply because of the view and the mirrored ceiling above the Jacuzzi tub.

'But the pool was probably my favourite just because of how incredibly large it was and thinking how vibrant it was at one point in time.

'The room was bigger than three of my houses, it was pretty incredible to look at while standing at one end. Everything was so full of life and now simply collects dust.

'As I wandered the halls and rooms I imagined the wild parties which must have taken place within these walls.

'I looked across a living room once full of life but now empty of parties, tigers and celebrities.'

(dailymail.co.uk)