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Video shows former boxer Mike Tyson punching airline passenger

Video shows former boxer Mike Tyson punching airline passenger

Representatives for the former boxer said he had been provoked by the "aggressive passenger."
22 Apr, 2022

Authorities on Thursday were investigating an incident in which former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson was recorded on video punching a fellow first-class passenger aboard a plane at San Francisco International Airport.

The video shows Tyson leaning over the back of his seat repeatedly striking the unidentified man in the head, drawing blood. The footage was first shared by TMZ, which said it was recorded on a Jet Blue plane bound for Florida.

“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,” representatives for Tyson said in an email to The Associated Press.

Prior to the physical altercation, the man is seen on the video standing over Tyson’s seat, waving his arms and talking animatedly while the former boxer sits quietly.

San Francisco police responded Wednesday around 10 pm to a “physical altercation” on a plane at the airport’s domestic terminal, officials said.

“Officers arrived and detained two subjects that were believed to be involved in the incident. One subject was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries. That subject provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation,” police said in a statement Thursday.

Both were released pending further investigation, the statement said.

Another passenger on the flight, Sarah Burchfield, said she saw the man who Tyson punched at an airport bar earlier appearing loud and quarrelsome.

“When I boarded the flight, I thought, ‘Oh, no, that drunk guy is on our flight,’” Burchfield told SFGate.

Burchfield said when she boarded she passed Tyson’s seat in the first class section of the plane.

“The belligerent guy was sitting right behind him and I saw they were interacting,” she said. A short time later, she heard the confrontation in first class, she said.

San Francisco police said the video has been shared with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction over the airport.

Sheriff’s officials said “we are not releasing information on the incident because it is an active investigation.”

JetBlue didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking additional details.

Since Tyson, 55, retired from boxing, he has worked as an actor, podcaster and cannabis entrepreneur. He was in San Francisco for the annual 420 cannabis festival in Golden Gate Park, where he was promoting his cannabis brand Tyson 2.0, SFGate reported.

Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1987 at age 20. During his career he had 50 wins, 44 of them by knockout.

In the 1990s Tyson served three years in prison after being convicted of rape. He has maintained his innocence in that case.

Tyson was briefly barred from boxing after infamously biting off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a fight in 1997.

Comments

ENGR Hamid Shafiq Apr 22, 2022 10:20am
Be patient Man you are not in ring
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Daredevil Apr 22, 2022 10:56am
Taking advantage of his art.
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TPA Apr 22, 2022 10:56am
Once an animal, always an animal
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NYS Apr 22, 2022 11:30am
I am consistent boxer sorry hold no punches
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Inquisitor Apr 22, 2022 11:31am
You don't poke a bear and expect to be slobbered with licks; this fool got the licking he deserved.
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Ali Apr 22, 2022 11:53am
@TPA first they provoke you then you react and you become bad person.
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Ahsan Gul Apr 22, 2022 12:02pm
Mike Tyson is a great person and must have been provoked in a wrong way. Thanks
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Who Apr 22, 2022 12:16pm
Mad celebrity
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Mike Not That One Apr 22, 2022 12:18pm
Watching the full videos shows that you must not throw stuff at any person and keep teasing them. This will back fire like a special military operation did for poor now abandoned by US Ukraine.
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kash Apr 22, 2022 01:27pm
@TPA He was provoked
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Apr 22, 2022 02:19pm
Old habits die hard.
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Basit Shinwari Apr 22, 2022 02:43pm
All you GANDHIs speaking against violence should also see why Mike punched that guys lights out! Would you sit quietly when someone insults you and throws something at you? Pretty easy to judge isn't it?
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Zulfiqar Apr 22, 2022 03:18pm
Hope that guy learned a lesson. If he had down the same to some other person who was vulnerable, he’d probably gotten away with it.
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Henchi Apr 22, 2022 03:43pm
He got angry because he was fasting.
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Ed Apr 22, 2022 04:39pm
Good Going Tyson, if someone threw bottle at you, glad you showed him his place.
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Hanna Apr 22, 2022 10:34pm
@Ahsan Gul he's not a great person,he used to be a thug and a rapist but it seems that he has learned his lesson now and trying to become a normal guy after suffering the consequences of his actions
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Zeeshsn Ahmed Apr 23, 2022 06:24am
@TPA maybe you should watch the full video before making such an idiotic statement.
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