Retired Boxing Legend, Mike Tyson Punches ‘Aggressive’ Passenger ‘Harassing Him’ On Flight

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Retired boxing legend, Mike Tyson, 55, was involved in an in-flight altercation Wednesday with an “aggressive” fellow passenger who he claims was harassing him on a JetBlue flight out of San Francisco International Airport.

 
“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 rep for Tyson tells PEOPLE in a statement.
 
In footage obtained by TMZ, Tyson can be seen repeatedly punching the man, who later received medical attention and went to the police. The outlet reports that the boxer walked off the still-grounded plane seconds after the altercation.
 
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) tells PEOPLE that the victim “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation,” and both men were released pending further investigation.
 
 
A source with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tells PEOPLE that they have not received a report of any unruly passengers on that flight, but they “[look] into all airline reports of passenger disturbances.”

A rep for JetBlue did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
 
At the time of the incident, Tyson was headed to the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Miami, where he was listed as a keynote speaker after he launched his cannabis brand Tyson 2.0 last year.
 
Tyson has previously faced legal action for instances of violence, including serving three years in prison after he was convicted of raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington in 1992. He has since maintained that their sexual encounter was consensual.
The former heavyweight champion served another nine months in prison in 1999 after assaulting two motorists following a traffic accident. He was arrested again in 2009 after an altercation with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport, although no charges were filed.
 
Tyson is perhaps most notorious for biting a piece of Evander Holyfield’s right ear off during their 1997 rematch, for which he was subsequently disqualified and temporarily banned from boxing, in addition to facing a $3 million fine.

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