The former world heavyweight champion was caught on video attacking a passenger on a plane
The man ‘attacked’ by Mike Tyson on a plane earlier this week has denied that he threw a bottle of water at the former world heavyweight champion.
Footage recorded showed the 55-year-old repeatedly punching a passenger on a flight which was set to take off from San Francisco.
Witnesses on the flight said that Tyson appeared to be friendly and pose for photos at first, however, the former boxer lost his cool after a passenger behind him continued to speak to him.
Mike Tyson repeatedly punches man in the face on JetBlue flight, bloodies passenger! Guy had Apparently Annoyed Him pic.twitter.com/v3SZE0qkmJ
— Raphousetv (RHTV) (@raphousetv2) April 21, 2022
Tyson and his team have responded to the footage and claimed that the man was “extremely intoxicated” and provoked Tyson, leading to the attack.
Tyson’s team respond to the footage
Speaking to TMZ, Tyson’s representatives also claimed that the former world champion had a water bottle thrown at him in the build-up to the altercation.
Police from San Francisco also confirmed that they were called to the scene and detained two people that were involved in the incident on the plane.
They also confirmed that one of the people involved, who was also treated for minor injuries, had “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation”.
Victim denies harassing Tyson
However, the ‘victim’ has since denied that he ‘harassed’ the former boxer or threw a bottle of water at him.
A statement from the lawyers of ‘victim’ Melvin Townsend III told TMZ, “Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan. When Mike Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial.
“At a certain point, Mr. Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner.
“This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr. Tyson.
“To state the obvious, as one of the greatest fighters of all time, Mr. Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands on an overly excited fan.”
TMZ were also told by a source close to the ‘victim’ that Townsend “is still in shock and has not made a determination on what his next steps will be.
“He hired counsel due to his physical injuries, the overwhelming nature of this event and the associated media inquiries.”
It remains unclear if Tyson will face legal action from his fellow passenger following the altercation on the plane.
Related links:
- Dana White posts video showing how to ‘stay alive’ after bumping into Mike Tyson on plane
- Mike Tyson breaks silence after punching passenger on flight
- Mike Tyson filmed repeatedly punching passenger on plane
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