• Knocked out: Mike Tyson barred from New Zealand

    Philippe Lopez / AFP - Getty Images, file

    Former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson is "disappointed" and "quite down" about New Zealand's decision, according to the promoter for his planned visit.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    Updated at 5:57 a.m. ET: Retired boxer and convicted rapist Mike Tyson has been barred from New Zealand by government ministers who revoked an entry permit for his forthcoming speaking tour.

    Authorities in the country - whose indigenous Maori people Tyson says inspired his facial tattoo – reversed an earlier decision to allow him entry after a children’s health charity withdrew its support for his controversial visit.

    The 46-year-old could now face a similar problem entering Australia. He is due to speak at a November event in Auckland, the "Day of the Champions."

    Tyson's 1992 conviction for raping an Indiana beauty queen would normally prevent his entry in New Zealand and could be grounds for denial in Australia as well. He had been granted an exemption by the New Zealand government because some proceeds from his talk would have benefited the Life Education Trust.

    However, that charity withdrew its previous support Tuesday. In a statement, New Zealand's Associate Immigration Minister Kate Wilkinson said: “Given that the trust is no longer supporting the event, on balance, I have made the decision to cancel his visa.”

    Max Markson, the promoter for Tyson's visits to Australia and New Zealand, told New Zealand television channel TV ONE that Tyson was "disappointed" by the decision.

    "He is quite down about it," said Markson, adding that Tyson had "rebuilt his life" in recent years.

    "He's clean, he sober, he's a vegan, he's coming with his wife, his two children under four and his mother-in-law, he can't possibly do anything wrong in 20 hours,” Markson told the channel. "And in addition to that he is very much giving a social and economic benefit to the New Zealand economy."

    Mike Tyson (yes, that Mike Tyson): Financial adviser

    A spokesman for Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship said a decision was “still pending" on Tyson's application for an Australian visa.

    Markson told The Associated Press he's continuing to sell tickets to the planned speeches in both countries and that buyers will get a full refund if the shows are cancelled. He said he had immigration lawyers in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. working on a new application. Tickets for the event cost up NZ$395 ($324) for a chance to meet Tyson in person.

    This summer, Mike Tyson is taking on a new role, appearing on Broadway in a one-man show called "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth." The former heavyweight champion and director Spike Lee chat with the TODAY team about conquering the stage together.

    Tyson said his distinctive facial was inspired by those worn by New Zealand's indigenous Maori. In pre-European times, many Maori wore elaborate facial tattoos as a sign of their status in their tribe. Some Maori today who identify strongly with their traditional culture get similar tattoos.

    Tyson was undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion in the 1980s but in 1992 he was convicted of raping teenager Desiree Washington in Indiana and served three years in prison. 

    Mike Tyson's 'Angry Birds' spoof is a knockout

    He added to his notoriety when he bit rival Evander Holyfield on both ears in a 1997 bout, for which he was disqualified and temporarily suspended from boxing. 

    Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003 and retired from professional boxing in 2006.

    Last month, Tyson spoke to a financiers' conference in Hong Kong about his life before and after boxing, his family and his acting career, which includes a recent one-man show on Broadway.

    Reuters, The Associated Press and NBC News' Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

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  • Afghanistan's answer to 'Million Dollar Baby'?

    Teen boxer Sadaf Rahimi, who aims to compete at this summer's London Olympics, hopes her achievements will be an example to others in her war-ravaged country. NBC News' Kiko Itasaka reports.

     

    Olympic hopeful Sadaf Rahimi's family and coach have received death threats because she's a boxer.

    The 18-year-old Afghan, who trains in a stadium where the Taliban used to carry out executions, says: "I want to show Afghan women don't stay behind closed doors." NBC News' Kiko Itasaka reports.

    Related content: Afghan girls punch their way to equality

    Taliban's bloodsoaked stadium re-opens as 'peaceful place'

     

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  • Police question boxer Chisora over news conference brawl with Haye

    Andrew Couldridge / Zuma Press

    Dereck Chisora (L) is punched by retired boxer David Haye (R)

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Updated at 7:20 a.m. ET: Police have detained British heavyweight boxer Dereck Chisora following his brawl with former WBA champion David Haye at a post-fight press conference on Saturday night.

    Police spokesman Gottfried Schlicht told The Associated Press that Chisora and his coach were detained at Munich airport and were being questioned.

    Schlicht said police are still looking for Haye, who wasn't at his hotel and "we don't know where he is."

    The brawl occurred during a news conference after Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko retained his WBC heavyweight belt, scoring a unanimous points decision over challenger Chisora in Munich's Olympic Hall.

    NBC Sports: Kitschko defends title, then fight gets nasty

    Haye, who had been working as a television pundit, became agitated by comments made by Klitschko's manager, Bernd Boente, and began to heckle from the back of the conference.

    That escalated until Chisora finally grabbed a microphone and stepped down from the main table into the media seating area to confront Haye.

    Getty Images / Getty Images

    Dereck Chisora (L) of Great Britain talks with a bloodied David Haye's manager Adam Booth (R) after a brawl between Chisora and Haye on Saturday night.

    Haye's manager Booth suffered a cut above his eye following the scuffle, thought to be caused by a camera tripod knocked over in the melee.

    The whole incident took place in front of dozens of cameras, and can be seen in this uncensored YouTube clip, uploaded by sports website bokser.org, which contains audible bad language throughout.

    "I'm totally disappointed, it went a little too far, the sport of boxing shouldn't be like that," Klitschko told the BBC after watching the fight.

    The BBC reported that Chisora allegedly threatened to shoot Haye follwing the incident. It said Chisora accused Haye of "glassing him", before saying at least four times that he would shoot Haye, adding: "If David don't fight me, I am going to physically burn him."

    Reuters, NBC Sports and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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  • Afghan girls punch their way to equality

    NBC News

    Sadaf Rahimi, in pink, throws a punch with her older sister, Shabnam, in the background on Dec. 17, 2011. They are working out in the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan.

    By Kiko Itasaka, NBC News Producer

    KABUL – It was known as the stadium of death. Ghazi Stadium was where the Taliban held public executions, stonings and mutilations during their brutal rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. This once blood-soaked pitch is now a field of dreams. 

    The stadium was recently reopened after a U.S.- funded refurbishment and thousands of Afghan athletes gathered to celebrate the event.

    It is impossible to forget the dark history of this arena, but Mohammed Sabher Sharifi is determined to move on.  

    "There were many people killed, especially women. Now it is for the young generation of sportsmen, especially the females,” Sharifi said Sunday as he pointed toward an Olympic flag which stands next to the Afghan flag and will remain there until the 2012 games.

    As a member of the Afghan National Olympic committee and coach of the women's boxing team, Sharifi faces a daunting task. He wants to create a winning team of female boxers.

    Every afternoon, in the basement of Ghazi Stadium, in a small, dusty room with battered punch bags and cracked mirrors he oversees 20 teenage girls, as they jump, jog, jab and thrust.

    Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images

    Afghan boxing coach Sabher Sharifi trains girls as they take part in a boxing training session at the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul in January 2011.

    Photoblog: Young Afghan women at boxing training session in Kabul

    "Yes, you see, the girls, they can do anything – and look at their strong punches!” he exclaimed.

    The young Afghan boxers arrive at practice fully covered, looking like demure young ladies, but within 10 minutes of starting their rigorous workout, their headscarves are cast off, and they look like sportswomen from all over the world, glowing with health and beaming with hope.

    The stars of the team are the Rahimi sisters – 18-year-old Shabnam and 17-year-old Sadaf. At the recent World Boxing Championship in Tajikistan, Shabnam won a gold medal and Sadaf a silver medal, making Afghan sports history.

    Boxing is an unusual choice for any young woman, anywhere in the world, but in deeply conservative Afghanistan, it is an act of courage.

    “Yes, we have a lot of problems. Here in Afghanistan they think we should stay home, not go to school, and never boxing,” said Sadaf. She said they have received threatening phone calls, but that has not stopped them.

    Shabnam, her older sister, said she boxes not just for herself, but for her country. “My dream is that I should represent my country all over the world, especially in the Olympics, raising the flag for my country.”   

    Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images

    Afghan girls practice during a boxing training session in Ghazi Stadium in Kabul in January 2011.

    She brushed aside local criticism of female boxing. "I just want to box, shoulder to shoulder with the men, and show I can do it." 
    Her sister, Sadaf, added, "When we were little, we had a male cousin who was a boxer, and we wanted to be like him."

    They both realize that they are among the first generation of women to be granted this opportunity to fight; women boxing in public or competing in sports was a punishable offense under the Taliban. Women's boxing is a new Olympic sport, too.  The International Olympic Committee only voted to include women's boxing in the 2012 Summer Games in London in August 2009.

    Coach Sharifi said he has faith in his team, but that they need help, especially financially.  

    "We get $1 a day for each athlete. What shall we do? We have poor equipment, we cannot train like others," he said. The team cannot afford to buy decent punching bags, let alone build a proper boxing ring.

    Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images

    Young Afghan wrestlers compete in a bout at the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul on May 12, 2011. The Ghazi stadium has returned to its former status as Kabul's premier sporting venue after being used for public executions by the Taliban during the late 1990s.

    But Shabnam remains optimistic. Raising her fists in the air, and with halting English she said, "I see you London 2012!"

    The sisters may not win medals at the Olympic Games.  Indeed they may not even qualify for the games. They need to win their places in May at the World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China.

    But they have already won a victory: They have shown what Afghan young women who pack a punch can achieve. The Olympic dream is theirs.

    Related link: Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee web site