|
Mike Tyson arrives in SA
30/01/2008 07:59 - (SA)
Johannesburg - In a thrill for local boxing fans, former world champion Mike Tyson arrived in South Africa Tuesday and hopes to be reunited with one of his own heroes, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, an icon of the anti-apartheid movement.
On Thursday, Tyson will tour Soweto, the home of the ex-wife of former President Nelson Mandela, whom he befriended some years ago in New York.
"One cannot be a human being and not be a fan of Winnie Mandela," he said at a press conference after his arrival.
Like the 41-year-old boxer, the popular Madikizela-Mandela is no stranger to controversy. In 1991, she was found guilty for her role in a kidnapping case and she has also been convicted of fraud and theft.
"She's a spirited woman," Tyson said. "She represents everything that is about overcoming."
Tyson, who last year spent a day in jail for driving under the influence, served a three-year sentence for the 1991 rape of an 18-year-old beauty queen. The man, who famously took a bite out of rival Evander Holyfield's ear, was also accused of abusing his former wife.
Slammed
Tyson is in the country as part of a series of promotional events that will culminate in a boxing tournament on Saturday where he will be a celebrity commentator.
He will also be honoured by Jacob Zuma, the country's president-in-waiting who has been acquitted of rape, at a charity fundraising banquet on Wednesday. The event has been slammed by women's groups as being inappropriate in a country like South Africa, which has one of the world's highest rape rates, with about 150 women raped a day.
"We have raised concerns about this paring of these two men who have a poor track record when it comes to women's rights," said Carrie Shelver of People Opposing Women Abuse.
However, Mark Jakins, from the Peermont Resort group, whose flagship casino and hotel, Emperors Palace, is one of the organisers of the event, said they were "focused on Mike Tyson's credential as a boxer".
Tyson was the youngest boxer to win the heavyweight championship of the world, at the age of 20.
- AP
|
