LOC chairperson, Barulaganye Mogotsi told a media briefing in Gaborone yesterday that the cost of bringing Tyson to Botswana was way beyond their budget. For a while now, an advert has been running in the media showing Tyson's photo and a promotional message for the June 9-15 tournament.
According to the LOC publicity, marketing and advertising chairman, Tiro Kganela, they were interested in bringing Tyson to the tournament, but decided against the move after negotiating with the former champion's agents in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America of America (US). He said they had initially contacted Tyson and he was also interested in coming, but they had to formalise everything through the agents. "We are disappointed that it did not happen and even Tyson will be disappointed as he wanted to be part of the tournament," Kganela said. However, he said they would continue using Tyson's photo for their adverts and also include other boxing icons in promoting the tournament.
