New venue for Tyson boxing event

Mike Tyson is due to visit Sussex at the end of March

An amateur boxing event with Mike Tyson as guest of honour has been moved to a private venue in Sussex after its original location was vetoed.

Council leader Simon Burgess blocked the planned event at the Brighton Centre after women's groups objected to the convicted rapist's attendance.

The promoters now hope to hold the gala on 24 March at the Effingham Park Golf Club, in Copthorne, near Crawley.

But campaigners have insisted it should not be allowed to go ahead.

Gail Gray, from the Brighton Women's Refuge Project, is keeping the pressure on after opposing the event being staged in Brighton.

'Awe-inspiring'

"I know people will say that he has done his time," she said.

"But he is able to get on with his life with not that many infringements upon it, whereas the impact of having been raped can have a huge psychological and emotional impact on women that can last throughout their lives."

Tyson, a former world heavyweight champion, fell from grace when he was jailed for rape in 1992.

But ex-British champion Scott Welch argued that the 39-year-old was an "awe-inspiring" person for amateur boxers.

Mr Welch's co-promoter Lee Greenwood said: "He [Mike Tyson] has had problems in the past, there's no getting away from it.

"But what Mike will do by coming to the county is encourage people to get off the streets, to get up and to actually do something rather than sitting around on computers all day."