Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson says he hopes New Zealand immigration officials grant him a visa, but he is not going to beg for it.
The American held a telephone media conference from Las Vegas on Wednesday to discuss his speaking tour of New Zealand and Australia in November.
Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992 and spent three years in prison, serving half of a six-year sentence.
Immigration New Zealand has said Tyson will have to go through the normal visa application process and may not be approved.
People with sentences of more than five years are automatically declined entry to New Zealand if they apply for a normal visa.
