Getty Images Former professional boxer Mike Tyson.
Video has emerged of boxing legend Mike Tyson repeatedly punching a fellow airline passenger who appeared to be bothering him during a flight.
The flight was heading from San Francisco International Airport to Florida on Thursday evening, per TMZ. The passenger was sitting behind Tyson and appeared to be a bit overexcited to interact with the heavyweight champ.
Video from the incident shows the passenger bloodied following the punches from Tyson. Here’s some additional information from TMZ about the encounter:
The witness tells us Mike took a selfie with him … and then was patient with his overly excited buddy, who kept trying to talk to the 55-year-old fighter as he sat behind him.
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.
Mike Tyson’s Reps Delivered Statement on Incident
TMZ said that police did detain two people they believed to be involved in the incident. The man who was treated for his injuries “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation.”
Tyson’s representatives delivered a statement on the situation to ESPN.
“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,” a spokesperson for Tyson told ESPN on Thursday.
Tyson was seen earlier in the day at San Francisco’s 420 cannabis festival, where he spoke to the crowd.
“Listen, we’re gonna take this to another level in life,” Tyson said. “I’m the world champion, and now I’m the world champion of cannabis, and we can’t be stopped. Look at us. Thousands of people [are] looking at us, and we’re getting high. This is beautiful. … Look at me, baby, look how beautiful I look up here.”
Tyson Has Been Called Out by Jake Paul
Tyson has been in the news lately after being called out by YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul, who was eyeing a fight with the legend.
“I joke with my friends about it, I’m like I’ll start eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts, move up to heavyweight and fight Mike Tyson. That would actually excite me and that’s a $200-300 million event,” Paul said on The Journey podcast. “So Mike, if you’re watching this let’s have some fun. New school vs old school and I think that’s something that the fans would want to see.”
Tyson recently said on the Joe Rogan Podcast he was entertained by the idea and wasn’t mad about being mentioned by Paul.
“You can’t take yourself too seriously. The world will turn on you if you take yourself too seriously. Who the hell am I to take myself too seriously? I made all this money; I got this reputation… I have a great life, how am I gonna be mad at somebody? When you think about it, my ego is not involved, how could I really be mad at somebody?”