DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: On his first trip to Dubai, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson recalls getting off a plane wearing a traditional Muslim cap and robes, carrying a Qur’an and expecting to find a society strictly governed by conservative mores.
He was in for a surprise.
This is “a party place, a place you have a good time at. This is like New York City, man!” Tyson exclaimed during an interview Thursday with The Associated Press.
Speaking from a penthouse overlooking Dubai’s man-made Palm Jumeirah archipelago, Tyson said he believes a city like Dubai can show people the best of the Middle East, its people and Islam. He told the AP during a wide-ranging interview that his new project franchising Mike Tyson Fitness & Boxing Academy locations worldwide fits in perfectly with the country’s desire to always be out front.
“People come over here and love this place. It’s just what it is,” he said. “I’ve been all over the world ... and everything they’ve got there, they’ve got here.”
Tyson converted to Islam while serving prison time in the 1990s on rape charges. He said he has performed the Haj pilgrimage, as well as other trips to holy sites in Saudi Arabia.
In Dubai, he and his business partners hope to open franchises of his new gym. Tyson said he will be involved with the gyms and their direction. His partners offered few details about when and where they will open, other to say one should be in Las Vegas in 2018.
Tyson endorsed Trump earlier during his presidential run. On Thursday however, a local radio host named Kris Fade who emceed the news conference with Tyson warned journalists that “we’ll eject you” if anyone asked about Trump. But Tyson himself brought up Trump at the news conference after being asked by a female journalist if he refused doing interviews with women.
“What Donald Trump said: Are they your friend?” Tyson said. “I’ll talk to them. Bring your friend. I’ll talk to them.”
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