Mike Tyson punched a fellow first-class passenger aboard a Florida-bound flight because the “aggressive” man threw a water bottle at him, according to reps for the former heavyweight champ.
Tyson was captured on video pummeling the man on the Wednesday night JetBlue flight from San Francisco to Miami, where he later appeared at a weed conference after party.
Prior to the beat down, the apparent harasser is seen on the video posted by TMZ standing over Tyson’s seat, waving his arms and talking animatedly while the former boxer sits quietly.
“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 a statement.
San Francisco police responded about 10 p.m. 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.
Both were released pending further investigation, police added.
The viral clip has been shared with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction over the airport, police said.
Another passenger, Sarah Burchfield, said that before the flight she saw the man at an airport bar, where he was loud and quarrelsome.
“When I boarded the flight, I thought, ‘Oh, no, that drunk guy is on our flight,’” Burchfield told SFGate.
She said that when she boarded, she passed Tyson’s seat in the first class.
“The belligerent guy was sitting right behind him and I saw they were interacting,” she said. A short time later, she said she heard the confrontation.
Meanwhile, on Thursday night, “Iron Mike” was all smiles at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference Afterparty, where he appeared with wrestling legend Ric Flair at the Fontainebleu Miami Beach.
“We’re Live At LIV In Miami! WOOOOO!” Flair said in tweet, in which he is seen raising fists with a beaming Tyson.
In another tweet, Tyson is seen in a video apparently toking up.
Tyson was supposed to be the main speaker at the weed industry event earlier, but had to cancel “due to a flight change,” TMZ reported.
On Thursday night, he hit the stage to promote his cannabis brand Tyson 2.0, which offers several strains of cannabis flower, as well as ear-shaped edibles in reference to his infamous 1996 bout against Evander Holyfield, SFGate reported.
“Listen, we’re gonna take this to another level in life,” Tyson said, according to the outlet.
“I’m the world champion, and now I’m the world champion of cannabis, and we can’t be stopped. Look at us. Thousands of people [are] looking at us, and we’re getting high. This is beautiful. … Look at me, baby, look how beautiful I look up here,” he added.
With Post wires
