Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has been refused a visa to visit New Zealand as part of a series of motivational speeches for the second time, the country’s government said on Friday.
The 46-year-old Tyson, who served three years of a six-year U.S. jail sentence for rape, needed dispensation under New Zealand immigration laws because of his conviction.
He had initially been granted a visa by Associate Immigration Minister Kate Wilkinson to visit New Zealand, but that was revoked when a youth charity which originally backed his appearance at the Auckland event no longer wanted to have anything to do with the visit.
Promoters applied for a new visa after a second community group said it would support the application in exchange for him talking to at-risk youth.
“The original decision in respect of Mr Tyson was a finely balanced call based on the letter of support from a board member of the Life Education Trust,” Wilkinson said in a statement.
“When the Trust withdrew its support I received another application from Mr Tyson’s representatives with the support of the Manukau Urban Maori Authority.”
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