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Mike Tyson Wrote To English Gangster Reggie Kray While He Was In Prison

Mike Tyson Wrote To English Gangster Reggie Kray While He Was In Prison

Tyson revealed he used to write letters to Kray.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Mike Tyson used to write letters to Reggie Kray while he was in prison and has revealed some of the exchanges he had with the notorious gangster.

Tyson recalled the time he was threatened with being kicked out of England in 2000 after he visited the Kray family before his fight against Julius Francis.

The Kray twins rose to prominence in the gang world in the East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s and were involved in a slew of crimes like murder, armed robbery and arson.

Image: PA
Image: PA
Image: PA
Image: PA

Reggie and Ronnie were sentenced to life in prison in 1969 with Reggie striking a friendship with 'Iron' Mike while he was serving time.

The American was sent to prison in 1992 after being convicted to rape and was released three years later.

Speaking on his podcast, he said: "I used to write to Reggie Kray while I was in prison."

British reporter Piers Morgan was also on the show and said: "And he wrote back to you?"

Tyson replied: "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."

Image: PA
Image: PA

Morgan continued: "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."

Morgan spoke about his own dealings with them, including their rival gang the Richardsons.

He added: "I was out for dinner with friends and a guy came to our table. Immaculate in a smart suit, beard and everything.

"He introduced himself to me and thank god I was friendly. He said 'Mr Morgan, my wife would like to have a photograph with you.'

"I said 'of course,' he then walked off and the owner of the restaurant said, 'You know who that is, that's Charlie Richardson from the Richardson gang.'

"They were the rival gang to the Krays. They were killing a lot of people so I was very glad I was friendly to him."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Mike Tyson, Boxing News, Boxing, Fight News