Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson repeatedly punched a man on an airplane before a Jet Blue flight this week after the man was allegedly aggressive toward Tyson.
The incident happened late on Wednesday night as Tyson was about to depart San Francisco after attending a 4/20 celebration earlier in the day.
A witness told TMZ that Tyson took a selfie with a man who apparently was overly excited to meet him and that the man did not stop pestering Tyson after taking the selfie.
“Eventually, though, we’re told Tyson had enough of the guy behind him talking in his ear … and told him to chill. When the guy didn’t, that’s when the witness says Tyson started to throw several punches at the man’s face,” TMZ reported. “Video we obtained shows Tyson throwing a flurry of blows at the man, which you can see bloodied the passenger’s forehead. The witness says Mike walked off the plane just seconds later.”
A representative for Tyson told a local news station on Thursday that the man was harassing Tyson and threw a water bottle at him.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat,” Tyson’s representative said.
WATCH:
Tyson made news last month after he was confronted, along with others, by a man who pulled a gun at a rooftop bar in California. The man reportedly challenged Tyson to a fight but Tyson decided to stay calm and defused the situation.
“While you can’t hear exactly what was being said in the footage, eyewitnesses tell us the man was actually challenging Mike to a fight — suggesting he wanted to elevate his ‘status,’” TMZ reported, adding that a man they were informed was the host/MC of the show had told the man to leave and started to shove him toward the exit, saying, “What the f*** are you doing? Get the f*** out of here. I’m not playing with you, get out of here, bro. I don’t give a f***.”
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This report has been updated to include additional information.