Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson delivered his brand of airline justice on Wednesday afternoon after boarding a flight from San Francisco to Miami, laying waste to an obnoxious passenger hellbent on getting a reaction from the retired “Iron” man.
Watch the video replay here.
“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,” a spokesperson for Tyson told ESPN reporter Mike Coppinger on Thursday.
The footage has been forwarded to San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
The “victim” has been identified as 36 year-old Melvin George Townsend III of Punta Gorda, Fla., who already served two jail sentences after being convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances and trafficking in stolen property.
Townsend is not expected to press charges.
“Officers were dispatched to a physical altercation onboard an airplane,” a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department told ESPN. “That subject provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation.”
Tyson returned to Miami later that day.
After battling fellow aging pugilist Roy Jones Jr. to a draw under the Triller banner in late 2020, the 55 year-old Tyson went back into retirement to focus on his cannabis business, as well as his Hotboxin’ podcast.
As for his airline assault, that appears to be over and done … for now.