Immigration bars Mike Tyson from entering The UK

Boxing legend, Mike Tyson, has been forced to scrap appearances in the UK after discovering he is banned from entering the country.

Convicted rapist Tyson, 47, was due in London this week as part of a promotional tour for his new autobiography Undisputed Truth.

But his publishers said recent changes to UK immigration laws meant he was unable to travel to the country and has been re-routed to Paris instead.

Under the new rules, any person who has been sentenced to more than four years in prison is barred from entering the country.

In 1992 Tyson was convicted of raping an ex-beauty queen and served three years of a six-year sentence. He also has convictions for assault, cocaine possession and driving under the influence.

A spokesman for HarperCollins said: “There was a change in the UK immigration law in December 2012 of which we were unaware.

“For this reason Mike had to change location to Paris to salvage his press obligations for the UK.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We would not comment on the details of an individual case.

“We reserve the right to refuse entry to the UK to anyone who is convicted of serious criminal offences.

“In December 2012 we toughened up the rules on entering the UK, replacing the previous discretionary approach with a clearer, stronger framework including mandatory refusals based on the length of, and time since, sentence.”

Tweets posted on Tyson’s official Twitter account as recently as Friday suggest the boxer was unaware he would be hit by the changes.

He wrote: “So, UK fans, who is brave enough to get in the ring and ask me a question?”

And then in subsequent tweets added: “Tweet me a question with #UndisputedTruthBook in it. The 5 best get to step in the ring & ask me it in person” and “Ok, lots of questions there. If you’ve won, @harpercollinsUK will be in touch soon. Thanks everyone for participating.”

Tyson was only 20 when he won his first title.

He was labelled “Iron Mike” and “the baddest man on the planet” – famously biting off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear in a bout.

He is due to come to the UK again in March with his one-man Broadway show, directed by Spike Lee, which is booked for eight nights in London, Glasgow and Manchester.