Mike Tyson Plane Incident: The Real Reason Boxing Legend Punched Co-Passenger

One airplane passenger learned an important lesson -- never annoy Mike Tyson. He learned it the hard and painful way.

Video footage obtained by TMZ went viral on Thursday, showing the retired boxer punching a man several times on a Wednesday night flight.

Tyson was shown on the viral clip throwing a barrage of blows at the passenger who seemed to be bothering the former heavyweight champion in his seat.

Mike Tyson, a former undisputed heavyweight champion, even snapped a selfie with the passenger and was polite with the "overly eager" passenger seated behind him who sought to chat with Tyson, according to witnesses.

Tyson even asked the man to calm down several times, but the man kept talking to him, according to a report from BBC. Eventually, the 55 years old ex-boxer got sick and tired of the man behind him chatting in his ear.

Tyson snapped and unleashed hard punches on the man.

Unruly Passenger

According to Tyson's representative, the passenger was not only bothering him, but he also tossed a water bottle at the former boxing champ, who knocked out dozens of heavyweight boxers in his hay day.

In a statement to TMZ Sports, Tyson's representatives claimed that the passenger on the San Francisco jet was also "aggressive" throughout the altercation.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him," Tyson's reps said Thursday, adding that the passenger "threw a water bottle" at the boxing icon "while he was in his seat."

One source close to the legendary fighter claims the passenger was "extremely" drunk, according to early reports.

Tyson was set to fly out of San Francisco International Airport to Florida at 10:30 p.m. PT when the event occurred.

In the aftermath of the event, Tyson departed the plane. The witnesses say the guy received medical attention and went to the police after the altercation.

Officers from the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) responded to the site, according to TMZ Sports. However, they did detain two people they suspected were involved in the event.

However, after one of the individuals was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said that person "offered little details of the incident and declined to participate further with the police investigation."

The video of the confrontation has been forwarded to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, according to the SFPD.

Pictures of the passenger uploaded on social media show wounds on the right area of his forehead. The man may get legal counsel to pursue a personal injury case against the former professional slugger.

MMA Fighters React

Nevertheless, Tyson is poised to make a public appearance in Miami on Thursday night at a marijuana business event. The legend is reportedly establishing a cannabis enterprise with wrestling legend and former champion Ric Flair.

Mike Tyson has not commented on the incident as of the present writing.

Meanwhile, as per MMA Fighting, some combat sports athletes reacted to the incident, and most of them favored Tyson's action.

"The problem is that Nowadays people think they can do everything without getting punched in the face." Thiago Moisés, a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, tweeted.

Irish MMA fighter Paul Redmond reacted on Twitter: "Wtf in God's name did a man antagonizing one of the baddest men on planet earth think was going to happen?? "

Tags

Mike Tyson, Attack, Plane, Florida, Boxing