Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson punched a man in the face multiple times on a plane before takeoff Wednesday night, according to a blurry video obtained by TMZ Sports. The altercation allegedly left the man bloodied.
The story was picked up by multiple outlets, including the New York Post, Bleacher Report, Fox Business and the Daily Mail.
The video, reportedly filmed by a friend of the victim, appears to show Tyson striking the man seated behind him on a JetBlue Airways flight that was preparing to leave San Francisco International Airport for Miami.
The man in the video was in fact the 55-year-old former boxing champ, acknowledged representatives for Tyson, who told NPR, “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.”
Strangely, the Federal Aviation Agency was not informed of the incident. “The FAA looks into all airline reports of passenger disturbances. We do not have a report at this time of an unruly passenger incident on a JetBlue flight yesterday,” the FAA said in an email.
Earlier in the day, Tyson had appeared at the 420 Cannabis Festival in Golden Gate Park, reported SF Gate. Last month, Mike Tyson's cannabis brand Tyson 2.0 launched Mike Bites, an ear-shaped cannabis edible gummies in reference to the infamous bite against American former professional boxer Evander Holyfield's right ear. The bite cost Tyson a disqualification from the World Boxing Association Heavyweight Championship in 1997. His boxing license was revoked, and he was fined $3 million.Tyson’s company also recently partnered with former WWE wrestler Ric Flair to create a line of themed concentrates, flowers, and consumables.
JetBlue did not immediately responded to Forbes’ request for comment.
So far this year, carriers have reported 1,233 unruly passenger incidents, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration. Yesterday, the FAA announced it intends to make its “zero-tolerance” policy permanent. Under the policy, the agency can without warning issue fines as high as $37,000 per incident to those who refuse to comply with safety measures on a flight.
