Mike Tyson became viral after video footage of the legendary boxer showed him punching a man who was allegedly harassing him while aboard a JetBlue airplane at the San Francisco Airport.
The man was identified as 36-year-old Melvin George Townsend III from Punta Gorda, Florida, and was discovered to have an extensive criminal record. He has served 20- and 15-month prison sentences for several crimes.
Mike Tyson Beats Up Passenger
He has previously been charged with possession of Oxycodone, burglary, grand theft, fraud, and trafficking of stolen property. In a 2018 incident, he was found to have stolen a trailer by trespassing and hitching the unit up to his pickup truck.
Authorities released Townsend from prison in Florida in July of 2020 after he completed his 15 months of a 25-month prison sentence for the trailer incident along with the use of a fraudulent personal ID. Prior to that crime and servitude, he was jailed for trafficking stolen property back in 2009 and 2010, as per Dailymail.
People on the internet who watched the altercation between Tyson and Townsend appear to be weighing in support of the former boxer. According to Tyson's reps, the man was allegedly badgering him and even threw a water bottle at the boxer prior to the incident.
Mike Tyson had a man point a gun at him and ended up hugging him. Whatever this dude did deserved all the smoke. https://t.co/OoiRhTWVtz
— Nomadic BLACK M. Ed.S⚫️🟡 (@AfrikanFengShui) April 21, 2022
Mike Tyson punched somebody who was Fn with him……. The problem is nowadays, MFs think they WON’T get punched in the Face…
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) April 21, 2022
They later said that it was unfortunate that Tyson got into an incident while on a flight with an aggressive passenger. On Thursday, Chicago-based attorney Andrew Stoltman said that the legendary boxer could face serious repercussions and his status as a trained fighter played a role in the case after the footage was released.
According to Fox News, Stoltman explained that historically trained fighters and mixed martial artists are usually held both by police and judges to a higher standard. This is largely part of the intent that is seen in the case. The attorney added that a trained fighter realizes they have the ability to inflict more extensive damage than a layperson and a typical defense in these sorts of claims is self-defense.
Hiring a Lawyer
Townsend is now believed to have hired a lawyer to deal with the case of Tyson punching him in the face. On Friday, Morgan & Morgan attorney Matt Morgan said that their client was a big Tyson fan.
Morgan explained that before the altercation, when Townsend saw Tyson board the plane, he became overly excited. He added that at first, the two interacted cordially but argued that at a certain point, the legendary boxer clearly became agitated by the overly excited fan and started punching him in the face in an excessive manner. The lawyer said that the situation could have simply been avoided by calling a flight attendant.
Furthermore, Morgan said that Townsend vehemently denied throwing a water bottle at Tyson prior to being punched by the legendary boxer. He added that as one of the greatest fighters of all time Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands to bloodily beat an overly excited fan who was, as they said, only trying to talk with him on the plane, the New York Post reported.
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