Former world heavyweight champion and convicted rapist Mike Tyson was unlikely to be granted a visa to fight in Australia, a government minister indicated on Wednesday.
Wll-known Australian boxing coach Jeff Fenech said on Tuesday the American had signed on to train with him full-time in a bid to relaunch his career in Australia.
But acting Immigration Minister Peter McGauran gave a strong indication on Wednesday that Tyson (38) would have little hope of meeting the character requirements necessary to be granted an Australian visa.
McGauran said the immigration department had a video tape of an interview Tyson gave in 2003 when he denounced Desiree Washington — whom he was convicted of raping.
He said the fact that Tyson, who served three years in jail for the 1991 rape of the former beauty queen, said he wanted to rape someone raised concerns about the protection and safety of Australians if he was allowed into the country.
Another of Tyson’s notorious incidents, when he bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear in a title bout in 1997, would do him no favours when it came to applying for a visa, he said.
”That Holyfield incident was [in] 1997 but only 18 months ago he claimed on national television, [and] we’ve got the tape, [saying] that he was innocent of the rape of that Desiree Washington back in 1992 for which he served three years,” McGauran said on radio.
”But he now wished he’d raped both her and her mother. Now that’s got to go to the protection and safety of the Australian community.
”We look at the nature and the seriousness of anybody’s criminal conduct, we look at the protection of the Australian community and also what are community standards.
”So even though he might have a cheer squad in Australia, that might be more than counter-balanced by the expectations of the Australian community that he be refused a visa.
”What we can say is that in the past, people seeking to come to Australia with serious criminal convictions have been denied entry on character grounds.”
Fenech hit back at the minister’s comments, saying: He [Tyson] is in Italy and can fly everywhere else around the world.
”What’s the difference if he comes to Australia?”
Since serving his conviction for rape, Tyson has fought in England, Scotland and Denmark.
Fenech said Tyson’s manager Shelly Finkel had been talking about a possible June fight for the former world champion whose last bout was a fourth-round knockout loss to Englishman Danny Williams last July.
A spokesperson for Australia’s Immigration Department said the department was unaware of any application from Tyson for a visa to Australia. – Sapa-AFP