Former world heavyweight champion and convicted rapist Mike Tyson has been banned from entering Britain and forced to cancel appearances to promote his new autobiography, his publishers said on Tuesday.
"There was a change in the UK immigration law in December 2012 of which we were unaware," said a spokesman for HarperCollins. “For this reason Mike had to change location to Paris to salvage his press obligations for the UK.”
The 47-year-old, who was convicted of raping a teenage beauty queen in 1992, had been due to appear in London this week to promote his book, Undisputed Truth.
British immigration rules ban anyone who has been sentenced to more than four years in prison from entering the country.
Tyson served three years of a six-year sentence for the rape. He also has convictions for assault, cocaine possession and driving under the influence of the same drug.
The boxer, who was the youngest man ever to become heavyweight champion when he beat Trevor Berbick in 1986 at the age of 20, has courted controversy throughout his life.
Aside from his spells in jail he has also gone bankrupt and bit off opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear during a match in 1997.