Mike Tyson In Australia: Boxer Gets Visa Down Under, Will Continue Motivational Speaking Tour


Mike Tyson can visit Australia and continue a motivational speaking tour of the area that was put on hold when he was denied a visa in New Zealand.

As Yahoo! News reported, the former boxing champion has the support of Australian promoter Max Markson, who has been key in helping Mike Tyson get to Australia. Tyson now plans to continue his fight to get into New Zealand, sending another visa application after his initial attempt was rejected.

Tyson’s trip to New Zealand has the support of the Manukau Urban Maori Authority, which has agreed to sponsor him in New Zealand, though this does not guarantee a visa from immigration officials.

Mike Tyson’s Australia trip is still not set in stone, as the former boxer learned earlier this month. His initially planned trip to New Zealand looked to be a sure thin, as he gained the sponsorship of the charity Life Education Trust to make a speech there, but it was lost when the application withdrew its support.

After the reversal, a New Zealand lawmaker moved to cancel Mike Tyson‘s visa application. The lawmaker noted that it had been a close call for Tyson, a convicted rapist, to actually get the visa, and, once the charity changed its mind, his application was doomed.

Aside from his scheduled talk to the Life Education Trust in New Zealand, the boxer-turned-actor was scheduled to perform his one-man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.

The Mike Tyson Australia visa came down to a close call as well, News-Leader.com reported. Officials there carefully weighed the pros and cons of allowing him to visit and considered his criminal past before making their decision, said Cian Manton, a spokeswoman for Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

She warned that Tyson could be kept from visiting Australia again if he commits any crimes during his visit.

Mike Tyson’s Australian visit is part of an ongoing effort to reshape his public persona, Yahoo! News noted. His Day of the Champions tour shows off a new and gentler Tyson, one who has given up drinking, become a vegan, and devoted himself more to his family. He has also encouraged his followers to donate $1 to his children’s charity, the Mike Tyson Cares Foundation.

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