Video from TMZ Sports captured a moment on a plane that witnessed retired professional boxer Mike Tyson repeatedly punching a man in the face.
Sources close to Mike Tyson told TMZ that the man was highly intoxicated and would not stop provoking the boxer in his seat.
Tyson, 55, was flying from San Francisco to Florida around 10:30 p.m. PST Wednesday when another man in the first class of the Jet Blue flight began badgering the professional boxing legend.
A witness on the plane told TMZ that Tyson was initially friendly with the passenger in question and his friends. The witness said Tyson even took a selfie with him and had been very patient with the man sitting in the seat behind him, who kept trying to engage him in conversation.
Eventually, Tyson had enough of the man talking and told him to leave him alone. When the man refused, Tyson began to throw punches.
“My boy just got beat up by Mike Tyson,” a man is heard saying on one of the videos posted to TMZ.
A witness filming the incident identified the man being punched by Tyson as “George.” Photos of the man after the incident showed him sporting multiple bloody cuts on the right side of his head.
Jo Mignano, a representative for Tyson, told The Washington Post that the passenger in question threw a water bottle at Tyson.
“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,” she said.
It is unclear whether Tyson was arrested or will face charges due to the incident, though federal law forbids airline passengers from assaulting other passengers. Civil penalties can be assessed towards passengers for any misconduct that “can threaten the safety of the flight by disrupting or distracting cabin crew from their safety duties,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
San Francisco Police Department spokeswoman Kathryn Winters said officers detained and released two people they believe were involved in the incident. Police added that after one of those arrested was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, they “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation.”
SFPD is “aware of the video that possibly captured the incident,” which has been forwarded to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, she added.
