Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion-turned-actor, had his visa cancelled after the organization that invited him to New Zealand withdrew its support for his visit.
Kate Wilkinson, the nation’s associate immigration minister, made the decision to cancel Tyson’s visa after it had been issued so he could fulfill a speaking engagement in September, according to the Associated Press.
Wilkinson, said she overruled the decision an immigration officer had made a day earlier when the charitable group changed its mind about Tyson’s visit, ordering Tyson’s visa canceled.
The charity, Life Education Trust, originally supported the trip, which Wilkinson said helped tipped the scales in Tyson’s favor to get a visa. Tyson is a convicted rapist who spent three years in prison, and who disgusted the masses by biting off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear, among other ignoble acts, originally was OK with Tyson coming in, despite his hard-to-fathom past. But Wilkinson saw it differently, and called the decision to revoke Tyson a visa “a finely balanced call.”
Aside from his scheduled talk to the Life Education Trust, the boxer-turned-actor had another ulterior motive to his trip to New Zealand. He was scheduled to perform his one-man show called Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.
Tyson has actually become somewhat of a theater buff, telling The Telegraphthat his next career move would be on the stage rather than in the ring. He said he is ready to cast aside his tough public persona and instead chase another recently discovered passion..
In any case, the people of New Zealand will have to wait at least a little longer to meet Mike Tyson, thespian.
