Onboard a JetBlue (JBLU) aircraft from San Francisco Airport (SFO) to Fort Lauderdale Airport, former professional boxer Mike Tyson was captured on film repeatedly hitting a fellow passenger (FLL).
The incident occurred on April 21, 2022, in the evening. Tyson was flying in JetBlue’s (JBLU) Mint business class, as was a fellow passenger who would not leave the boxer alone, according to reports.
According to TMZ, the passenger who was hit by Tyson was “extremely intoxicated… and wouldn’t stop provoking the boxer in his seat.”
According to TMZ, Tyson accepted the passenger’s request to snap a photo with him at the start of the trip before the assault.
Despite Tyson’s efforts to “relax,” the “overly enthusiastic” man continued to annoy the former boxer during the flight.
The video was uploaded by TMZ Sports, and it appears that the passenger taunts and verbally provokes Tyson.
The passenger looked to be conversing with the person who was filming the video. Tyson was shown bending over his seat and pummeling the passenger with two hands in a later shot. A close-up view of the passenger’s bleeding face is seen in the final footage.
According to a spokesperson for Tyson, the passenger tossed a water bottle at the former boxer.
“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,” Joann Mignano, a representative for Tyson, said in a statement given to CNN.
Officers assigned to the SFPD Airport Bureau responded to a physical confrontation on board a plane at SFO’s domestic terminal at around 10:06 p.m., according to the San Francisco Police Department.
Two people thought to be engaged in the event have been detained, according to CNN.
(1/3) On Wednesday April 20, 2022 at approximately 10:06 PM, officers assigned to the SFPD Airport Bureau were dispatched to a physical altercation onboard an airplane located at the Domestic Terminal of @flySFO. pic.twitter.com/orgizXQ2YF
— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) April 22, 2022
This event occurred just one day after the FAA announced that its Zero Tolerance Policy for rowdy passengers would be made permanent.