Tyson, boxing champ and convicted rapist, backs Gillard on sexism

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's scathing speech against sexism won unlikely backing from controversial former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson on Sunday, who said history was on her side.

Tyson, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 1992 for raping an 18-year-old woman, said he watched Ms Gillard's speech against misogyny on television in Australia, where he is on a speaking tour and thought she had a point.

"I'm not saying she's right personally, but history proves she's right," the former champ told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, describing Ms Gillard's appointment as Australia's first female leader as "wonderful for the country."

"I'm not saying that I'm on her side, I'm just going by the facts of what history proves, that most males are that way."