Boxing champion Mike Tyson is breaking his silence about getting physical with a fellow passenger on a flight with JetBlue Airlines last month. The former heavyweight champion punched a guy after being verbally harassed even before the plane took off. As it turns out, the local authorities felt Tyson wasn’t responsible, despite the injuries the man endured. The San Mateo County District Attorney said because of “the conduct of the victim leading up to the incident, the interaction between Mr. Tyson and the victim, as well as the requests of both the victim and Mr. Tyson” no charges will be filed against Tyson. And Tyson couldn’t be more pleased.
“They said they ain’t going to pick up charges,” he said to fellow sports stars on a recent podcast interview before giving the hosts of the podcast a fist pound, per TMZ. “He was f—-ng with me,” he said before agreeing with former NBA star that he kept his composure before giving the airline passenger a 1-2 knockout. “Yeah, I took pictures with the n—a. This guy doesn’t even know, I shouldn’t even be taking public planes anymore. My wife is mad that I take public planes…It triggered something in me.”
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Tyson says he’s used to hecklers being a boxing champion and having to deal with crazed fans. But never has he dealt with such to an extent while traveling. “The Holyfield fight [someone threw something at me] and I ran up in the aisle in the house trying to get this muthaf—-r,” he recalled. When asked if it’s always a losing battle when in those situations, Tyson replied, “Yes. Totally. 100%.”
Reps for Tyson alleged the man threw a water bottle at the boxer and annoyed him repeatedly prior to Tyson getting physical. An attorney for the man claimed that no water bottle was thrown and blamed the incident on his client being “overly excited” about meeting Tyson.
Stephen Wagstaffe, the San Mateo County D.A., told TMZ that Tyson nor the man in question wanted to go to court over the incident and believed there were more serious offenses to focus on. “We thank San Mateo District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, the San Mateo County Sheriff, and all law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation for their careful, diligent, and professional work,” Tyson’s attorneys stated in the aftermath.
