San Francisco: A flight out of San Francisco International Airport turned violent on Wednesday night when boxing legend Mike Tyson threw punches at a man who was allegedly bothering him on the plane.
Tyson repeatedly punched the man, whose assigned seat on the flight was behind the boxing legend's. The man was allegedly left with a bloody face after Tyson hit him, media reported.
According to media reports, the incident occurred at 10:30 pm after Tyson boarded a JetBlue flight headed to Florida. Media also reported that the passenger Tyson hit "was extremely intoxicated ... and wouldn't stop provoking the boxer in his seat."
A spokesperson for Tyson added the passenger threw a water bottle at the 55-year-old. "Unfortunately, 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," the spokesperson told to media.
A fellow passenger and witness to the incident told that Tyson did not appear angry at first. Things then took a turn, though, after Tyson took a selfie with the man. Tyson, then visibly upset, told the man to stop trying to talk to him. The person did not, and witnesses say it was then that Tyson got physical, media reported.
After punching the man several times in the face, witnesses claim Tyson then walked off the plane.
According to media reports the man injured in the incident got medical attention and went to the police regarding what happened.
According to SF Gate, Tyson was in San Francisco on Wednesday to attend the city's 420 cannabis festival in Golden Gate Park.
While San Francisco Police declined to name the individuals involved in the incident, it said two subjects were apprehended at the airport and later released.
One of those subjects received treatment for non-life threatening injuries at the scene but gave "minimal details" of what happened and "refused to cooperate further with the police investigation." (UNI)
