Convicted rapist and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is planning on having an "awesome" time when he comes to New Zealand in November as part of his Australasian speaking tour.
Immigration New Zealand confirmed the controversial boxer had been granted a visa to enter the country in November, despite his rape conviction.
Tyson told TV ONE's Breakfast he was looking forward to coming to New Zealand with his family and he was not planning on causing any trouble.
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"I just want to come over there, I don't want to have any problems with you, I'm not going to do anything to anyone over there," Tyson said from Las Vegas.
"I'm coming over there with my family but I appreciate the support out there and I mean I do love the New Zealand people."
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Tyson, 46, recently finished a two-week stint on Broadway performing his one man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.
He said the "dynamic" and "entertaining" show he was now bringing to New Zealand was about his life experiences.
"It's not really motivational speaking it's about me talking about my life and entertaining you guys.
"It's pretty dynamic; I think you will like it. It has been received very well in this part of the world."
The 46-year-old has repeatedly denied raping an 18-year-old pagent model Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in 1992 but only served three years.
"I didn't do the crime, I was set up, I don't care what people say. I didn't do that ****ing crime."
Immigration lawyer David Ryken told TV ONE's Breakfast that Tyson would have had to submit sworn testimonies and a police clearance with his visa application to prove he was not at risk of reoffending.
He said immigration officials would have been more likely to trust the information provided in his application as it would be hard for Tyson to hide anything from the public eye.
"I think with a celebrity there is one advantage that is he has lived his life out in the public and I think an immigration officer looking at the paper would say 'well we can be pretty sure if some of this is not true the world will know about it'," said Ryken.
"So probably because he has lived his life publicly you might be able to convince he is unlikely to reoffend."
Ryken said visa application cases like Tyson's were rare but his office did process a few similar visa applications every year.
Yesterday, Prime Minister John Key told Breakfast he was not aware of how Immigration NZ had come to its decision but said he was opposed to "sanctioning behaviour in that regard".
The Prime Minister said he would never approve an honour if a candidate had a serious conviction, such as violence against a woman.
"I don't know the rationale why Immigration New Zealand made that call," said Key.
"I can see it from both sides, maybe it was a long time ago but in my view they are very, very serious issues...I'm opposed to...sanctioning any behaviour in that regard."