Kadyrov Hosts Iron Mike in Chechnya
The Moscow Times
Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson traveled to Chechnya on Thursday to open a Russian national boxing tournament and said he had prayed for the war, which has been raging in the republic since 1999, to end.
"I am glad that I am in the Chechen republic that I have read and heard so much about, and am glad that I am among Muslims," Tyson said, opening the event in Chechnya's second largest town of Gudermes, RIA-Novosti reported.
Tyson was a guest of Ramzan Kadyrov, the republic's powerful first deputy prime minister, who is a boxing enthusiast.
Tyson converted to Islam while serving time in prison.
A court in 1992 found him guilty of raping Desiree Washington, who was a contestant in the Miss Black America pageant the year before.
"We have seen on television an unfair war being waged in the Chechen republic for a long time. We in America prayed for it to end," Tyson said, Interfax reported.
Channel One television showed Tyson wearing a T-shirt and walking in a sports stadium under sunny skies to applause and cheers from a young crowd. Tyson, apparently moved by the reception, told the crowd, "Salaam Aleikum," the channel's news anchor said. The four-day tournament is being held in memory of Ramzan Kadyrov's father, the late Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in May 2004.
Ramzan Kadyrov said he had invited Tyson in order to create a holiday for young people and show that peace was returning to Chechnya, Interfax reported.
Kadyrov called Tyson by his Muslim name, Malik Abdul Aziz, Interfax reported.
Tyson spent several days in Moscow last week and appeared on a talk show as part of a tour that included stopovers in Turkey and Ukraine.
He was expected to negotiate with Ukraine's Nemiroff vodka maker regarding a possible endorsement during the stay.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/09/16/092.html
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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