MIKE TYSON claimed he was almost deported for from the UK for visiting Reggie Kray’s family.
And the boxing legend revealed he wrote to the notorious gangster while he was in prison.
London born twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray were seated to life in prison after being involved in murder and armed robbery.
Tyson, 54, was sentenced to six years in prison in 1992 for rape, but was released in 1995.
Ronnie died of a heart attack in 1995 but Reggie was still alive when Tyson travelled to the UK to face Julius Francis in Manchester.
He knocked the Brit down five times in a dominant second-round win, but that wasn’t the most eventful part of his trip to England.
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Speaking on his Hotboxin’ podcast with Piers Morgan, Tyson revealed: “I used to write to Reggie Kray while I was in prison.”
Morgan responded: “And he wrote back to you?”
And Tyson explained: “He wrote to me first. He just told me about his life and I told him what I was doing here and how I feel about being here and what I’m going to do when I get out.
“When I came out of prison I was fighting somebody, I think it was Julius Francis, and I went to visit his family and talked kindly about him.
“They almost sent me out of the country back to America.”
Good Morning Britain host Morgan then recalled his own experience of the Kray twins.
He said: “I had some dealings with him. They were tough guys. He was very well behaved in prison. They both were.
“Ronnie, his brother, was in Broadmoor which is more of a psychiatric prison. He was slightly madder.
“Reg was in a conventional prison, Parkhurst and then Maidstone. They were fascinating parts of English folklore. They were folk heroes to many people.”
Tyson was one of the most feared boxers in the world in his prime after bursting onto the scene.
He became world champion in 1986 before going on to clean up the heavyweight division.
His prison sentence came during the prime years of his career, but he came back to win the world title again.
Iron Mike retired in 2005 – but last year came back to draw with Roy Jones Jr, 52, in an exhibition bout.
