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I think the case of Baikal has pretty much debunked this allegation.
Some purebred Amurs can simply become gigantic in the captivity without acquiring the exotic mixture.
If the Amur population has any mixed gene, then it must trace back to the old time where the remaining population of the Great Pleistocene tigers got absorbed by the newly arrived Amur tigers. Baikal's gargantuan size pretty explains this possible scenario.