A week after being denied his request for a visa in New Zealand, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was granted one by its neighboring country, Australia.
Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship carefully deliberated the about giving Tyson the visa. Officials evaluated the pros and cons of his visit and his character given his past criminal history, including a 1992 rape conviction.
According to Cian Manton, a spokeswoman for Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship, this was the first time Tyson had applied for the visa to Australia. She went on to add that Tyson was warned that the privilege could be revoke if he broke any laws.
“Given the purpose of his visit and the short duration, we considered the risk of him re-offending to be very low,” Manton said.
Tyson was given an entertainment visa that will cover his five-city Australian tour in November. Tyson will be on the “Day of the Champions” tour giving inspirational talks about overcoming adversity in throughout his life.
Tyson was scheduled to visit New Zealand as well, but the New Zealand Immigration authorities had a change of mind. They had initially granted him a visa to visit the country, but once a charity withdrew their support, they had a change of mind.
The tour will also include influential speaker Willie Jolley, financial expert Loral Langemeier, investor Steven J Young and Jeff and Kane who are the founders of Industry Rockstar.
The tour stop will be in Auckland on November 15th and ending in Perth on the 21st.
In 1992, Tyson and two other defendants were found guilty of raping an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant. Tyson was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but the judge suspended the last four years of the sentence leaving him with six years to serve. He only ended up serving three years in prison before being released in 1995.
