Mike Tyson unleashed several punches on a fellow airplane passenger on a Wednesday night flight, according to a video clip that started to go viral on the internet on Thursday.
The footage, released by TMZ, showed the former heavyweight boxing champion, who had boarded a Florida-bound plane from San Francisco, engaging with a passenger seated behind him.
According to a New York Post report, one witness claimed that "Iron Mike" even posed for a selfie with the seemingly excited fan.
Another passenger is seen filming the exchange while the passenger is seen conversing playfully. However, things went ugly when Tyson became enraged with the passenger who had refused to leave him alone, and the former heavyweight champion then delivered a series of strikes from over his seat.
What Happened?
The victim's friend told TMZ that Tyson was initially friendly and even snapped a selfie with the victim's companion, but when his friend ignored Tyson's advice to quit bugging him, the former boxer allegedly responded violently.
A source close to the legendary fighter claims the passenger would not stop "provoking" Tyson as he was "extremely" drunk.
One witness said that a few moments after the incident, Tyson exited the plane while the passenger was seen bloodied and bruised. Later on, he received medical attention.
"My boy just got beaten up by Mike Tyson," a passenger who was recording the incident exclaimed from behind the camera.
As per a Bleacher Report article, the event happened around 10:30 p.m. PT at San Francisco International Airport on an airplane to Florida that was about to take off.
The wounded passenger also reportedly went to the police.
This week's incident came only weeks after another aggressive fan approached Tyson at a comedy club, where the former boxer remained calm and even hugged the fan, who was armed.
The Baddest Man on the Planet
Once dubbed as 'The Baddest Man on the Planet,' Tyson was one of the most successful and widely popular fighters of all time at the height of his fame in the late 1980s and 1990s, according to Talk Sport.
He was the youngest fighter to win a world heavyweight title at the age of 20, and he holds a record of 24 first-round knockouts.
However, Tyson's amazing career suffered when he was sentenced to prison in 1992 after being convicted of rape. He spent six years in prison, but he was freed in 1995 after serving less than three years.
In 1997, Tyson got infamous when he bit off Evander Holyfield's ear, which resulted in his loss via disqualification.
He retired from boxing in 2005 but returned to the ring in 2020 in an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr. That ended in a split draw.
Tyson has adopted a more relaxed public demeanor nowadays that his illustrious boxing career is over. He admits to being a marijuana addict. The 55-year-old boxing legend is establishing a cannabis enterprise with wrestling legend and former champion Ric Flair.
Currently, Tyson keeps active with his podcast Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson' where he interviews various celebrities and athletes "in a studio full of smoke."
