Mobile phone footage has emerged of legendary boxer Mike Tyson repeatedly punching an unruly passenger on a plane on Wednesday.
According to Tyson’s spokesman, the drunk passenger had continually harassed Tyson in his seat on a flight to San Francisco, adding that the man had been “aggressive” and “wouldn’t stop provoking” the former world heavyweight champion.
Other passengers say Tyson, 55, had happily taken selfies with fans on the plane prior to the incident but became agitated when the intoxicated passenger became increasingly irritating.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him,” a source close to the boxer told TMZ.
“[The passenger] threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat.”
Tyson, nicknamed Iron Mike, had reportedly asked the man, who had been sitting directly behind him, to be quiet before he began to unload a flurry of punches on the passenger. The man required medical attention for some minor injuries.
In the footage filmed on a cell phone by a passenger, a man can be heard saying, “hey, hey, hey Mike, come on, let’s stop that”.
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The alleged victim took selfies of a bloodied face and grazes to his forehead after the assault.
“My boy just got beat up by Mike Tyson,” the man shooting the video can be heard saying.
“Yeah, he got f***ed up. Just trying to ask for an autograph. I don’t know what happened.”
Tyson had been on his way to speak at a pro-marijuana industry conference in Miami on Thursday night but it’s not yet clear whether he had made it to the event.
According to sources obtained by the Daily Mail, the former boxer had been in a chilled out mood before boarding the flight, having enjoyed a pot-themed 4/20 celebration holiday in San Francisco.
Bay Area photographer Josh Edelson had stopped Tyson for a photo as he arrived at the airport. According to Edelson, Iron Mike seemed to be in a good mood and relaxed:
‘He was really chill”, said the photographer. “He seemed overall happy. He obviously was smoking, was having a good time and seemed to be in a really good mood.”
“So I went up to him and was like, ‘Mike do you mind if I get a picture with you real quick?’ And he responded with, ‘I don’t give a f—,’ and then he took a huge toke of his joint,” said Edelson.
“I went and took a picture with him, and he took another big toke and said ‘goodbye’ to his driver, who I assume drove him there from Hippie Hill or wherever he came from in San Francisco, and that was pretty much it. I didn’t really think very much of it.”
happy 420 everyone! who else is enjoying the day with some @tysonranch pic.twitter.com/Qd9lN6w09C
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) April 20, 2019
The man reported the incident to the police, the San Francisco Police Dept. said it was aware of the incident and the video footage and had detained two people who had been involved in the altercation.
It is unclear whether Tyson or the alleged victim were on board the flight as it left for Florida and Tyson’s spokesman did not respond to media inquiries as to whether the former boxer had been arrested.
In a statement, the department said that the man had “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation.”