Mike Tyson punched a man multiple times on an airplane in San Francisco on Wednesday night, and the reason for the attack has been revealed. According to TMZ Sports, Tyson said the man he punched was not only harassing him, but the man threw a water bottle at him before the fight. Tyson reps told TMZ Sports the man was “aggressive” during the incident.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him,” Tyson’s reps said Thursday, “and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat.” The incident was filmed and showed Tyson out of his seat and throwing a series of punches at the man. The boxing legend then left after the altercation, and the man is seen with a bloodied forehead. A witness said the man, who needed medical attention, went to the police following the altercation.
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As for Tyson, he is scheduled to appear at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference Afterparty at LIV in Miami on Thursday night. It’s not clear if Tyson, 55, will talk about the incident, but he’s been a big supporter of marijuana for many years. In an interview with Yahoo Finance last year, Tyson said he show have smoked cannabis his “whole career” instead of drinking.
“My life was just miserable, I was out of control. I was fighting with everybody. If someone asked me for an autograph, I’d punch them in the face. I was just a mess, and then after I retired, I started smoking,” Tyson said. “What a mistake that was — I should have smoked my whole career. I should have smoked when I was fighting because it put me in this different state of mind. I’m very relaxed and the more relaxed you are, the better fighter you are at least in my case.”
Tyson is considered one of the best boxers of all time. He finished his career with a 50-6 record, and of those 50 wins, 44 were by knockouts. Tyson won the heavyweight championship for the first time in 1986 at just 20 years old, making him the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. He went on to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in 1987, a title he would hold for three years. Tyson won the heavyweight title again in 1996 and would compete for another nine years.
