Mike Tyson's team has claimed his alleged attack on a fellow plane passenger took place after he "had a bottle of water thrown at him".
A video appeared to show Iron Mike getting physical with a man who was sat behind him on a flight out of San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday night. The alleged victim was, according to sources close to Tyson, "extremely intoxicated" and was repeatedly provoking the retired fighter.
After initially being happy to speak with the man and pose for a photo, Tyson seemed to grow tired of the constant badgering. When he reportedly ignored repeated requests to leave him alone, the retired boxer appeared to throw several punches and left the man with cuts to his face.
Tyson's representatives have since told TMZ that the former world heavyweight champ had been provoked by the man's "aggressive" behaviour. "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," they said.
Police in San Francisco have also confirmed that they were called to the scene and detained two people they believed to be involved in the incident on the plane. They told TMZ that one of the people, who was treated for minor injuries, "provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation".
Tyson, who was the undisputed heavyweight world champion in his prime, last fought competitively in 2005 but returned in an exhibition against Jones Jr. The bout was not declared a draw after six rounds.
Tyson has flirted with extending his career further having held talks with former rival Evander Holyfield over a trilogy fight. He has also been called out by YouTube brothers Jake and Logan Paul although both Tyson and Jake denied a contract had been signed following reports earlier this year.
Both men continue to tease an exhibition bout, however, with Paul saying recently: "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 $200-300million event.
“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.”
