A flight from San Francisco International Airport to Florida was disrupted after former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson assaulted a fellow passenger, a video appears to show. The video of the altercation was shared first on TMZ.
In the video, Tyson is seen leaning over his seat as he repeatedly lands punches to the unidentified man's head. Another person tries to push Tyson off the man. The beating lasts for a few seconds.
Representatives for Tyson told NPR via email, "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."
According to TMZ, prior to the assault, Tyson had agreed to take a picture with the passenger at the beginning of the flight on Wednesday. But the "overly excited" man continued to bother the former boxer during the flight, despite requests from Tyson to "chill."
The video shows the passenger's forehead, which appears to be bloodied as a result of the punches.
NPR's request for comment from JetBlue went unanswered.
In 1987, at age 20, Tyson became the youngest ever heavyweight champion. He became one of the sport's most revered boxers — but that fame came with controversy and negative headlines.
In 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape, for which he served three years in prison. Tyson has long maintained his innocence on that charge.
And in 1997, he was disqualified from a fight after biting off a portion of the ear of his opponent, Evander Holyfield.
In a 2017 interview with NPR, Tyson said he was a changed man and tries to stay away from others.
"My life is my family life," he said at the time "I don't have no life outside of that. I don't have no night life, that's over."
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