Representatives of Mike Tyson have explained why the boxing legend punched a man on a plane earlier this week.
One of the most famous boxers of all time, Tyson had a stellar career from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. His quick hands and devastatingly powerful punches terrorised the heavyweight division; 44 of Tyson’s 50 career victories came via knockout. As a result, ‘Iron Mike’ also racked up plenty of accolades.
In 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in history, claiming the WBC title from Trevor Berbick. He unified both the WBA and IBF titles the following year before successfully defending all three belts on six different occasions.
Mike Tyson is a true legend of the sport. However, he was never too far from controversy. His most infamous fight was when Tyson bit off a chunk of rival Evander Holyfield’s ear. Unsurprisingly, Mike was disqualified from the massive match-up, which had broken PPV sale records in America.
Iron Mike retired in 2005 with a record of 50 wins, six losses and two no-contests. However, he did return to the ring in 2020 for a charity match against Roy Jones Jr. The pair of legends fought out an eight-round draw in Los Angeles.
Read: The top five worst ends to fight careers.
The heavyweight is an incredibly well-known figure across the world, so is often recognised by fans. However, they should know better than to mess with Mike Tyson, as one plane passenger found out the hard way.
Mike Tyson gets in a plane scrap
According to TALKSPORT, the former heavyweight champion boarded a flight from San Francisco to Florida. Whilst in his seat, an over-excited fan accosted Tyson.
Video footage shows the man talking animatedly at an increasingly annoyed-looking Tyson. The passenger kept badgering the boxing icon despite Tyson reportedly telling him to ‘chill’.
Eventually, Iron Mike had enough. Videos captured by fellow travellers show the heavyweight reaching over his seat to repeatedly punch the passenger who had annoyed him. As a result of the attack, the fan had a bloodied face.
According to witnesses, Mike Tyson then left the plane. Meanwhile, the incident was reported to the police.
Tyson’s representatives now want to put his side of the argument out to the public.
Tyson’s perspective of the incident
In a statement to TMZ sports, the boxer’s team alleged that the man who Tyson attacked not only harassed Tyson but also threw an object in his direction.
“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,” read the statement.
According to TMZ Sports, police officers did respond to the incident and stopped two people who were apparently involved. Despite this, the attacked fan was reportedly not very cooperative with a potential investigation. Police said that the passenger “provided minimal details of the incident”.
Mike Tyson may still face legal repercussions for his angry reaction to a fan. Maybe violence isn’t the answer after all.
Featured image credit: Getty