U.K fight fans who were looking forward to meeting heavyweight legend Mike Tyson this week in London will be disappointed by the news that Tyson has been banned from entering the UK due to a change in UK immigration law.
According to a news story in today’s Independent newspaper, Tyson has had to scrap his planned book signing at Waterstones book store and will instead appear in Paris, France to fulfill his UK media obligations.
Tyson was to have appeared in London this week to meet with the press and then with the public for the book signing. But now plans to promote his book “Undisputed Truth” have had to be changed.
“There was a change in the UK immigration law in December of 2012 of which we were unaware,” a spokesman for HarperCollins told The Independent. “For this reason Mike has had to change location to Paris to salvage his press obligations for the UK.”
Under the law change that was made in December of last year, any person who has been sentenced to more than four years in prison is barred from entering the UK. Tyson of course, served three years of a six year sentence for rape (a charge Tyson still vehemently denies) in 1992 and the 47-year-old Hall of Famer has also a rap sheet that includes drug and assault charges.
Tyson, who last year took his Undisputed Truth show to the live stage, was also to have appeared in theatres in London, Glasgow and Manchester next year. It seems these too will now be scrapped.