COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Mike Tyson arrived Monday in Copenhagen, where he will fight Denmark's Brian Nielsen later this month in a bout regarded as a major step toward Tyson getting another shot at the heavyweight title.

The fight on Oct. 13 against the 36-year-old Nielsen (62-1, 43 knockouts) will be the first in nearly a year for Tyson, who last fought on Oct. 20 against Andrew Golota. That fight at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan was ruled a no-contest after Golota quit in the second round.

"If he wins, he'll meet the winner of fight between Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis," Tyson manager Shelly Finkel told reporters. "That's for sure."

The Rahman-Lewis fight is set for Nov. 17. Rahman became the WBC and IBF heavyweight champion when he stopped Lewis on April 22 in South Africa.

Wearing a lambskin coat and a wool hat, Tyson and his entourage plowed through reporters, photographers, television crews and autograph seekers.

The 35-year-old Tyson (48-2, 2 no-contests, 42 knockouts) declined comment, saying only that the 14-hour flight from Las Vegas via Washington had been, "nice."

Initially scheduled for Sept. 8, the fight against Nielsen was pushed back five weeks because Tyson had back spasms that kept him from properly preparing. Finkel said Tyson was in "great shape" before leaving for Copenhagen.

The former heavyweight champion arrived in the Danish capital three days earlier than initially scheduled because he needed to get acclimated, Finkel said, ruling out speculation in local media that Tyson was running away from troubles at home.

Last week, police searched Mike Tyson's home in Las Vegas, where he was training, after a sexual assault allegation was made against him, the second made in less than three months. No charges have been filed against Tyson.

Nielsen's promoter Mogens Palle, was happy to see Tyson arrive in Copenhagen because he said it took four years to organize the fight that will take place at Denmark's national stadium Parken, which has a sliding roof.

Tyson, who became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20 in 1986, was imprisoned for three years in Indiana for raping a beauty pageant contestant in an Indianapolis hotel room in 1991.

In 1997, he was fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ears during their heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas.