Fan Who Was Punched By Mike Tyson On Plane Explains His Story

The man 'attacked' by Mike Tyson on a plane on Wednesday night has given his side of the story, and denied he threw a bottle of water at the former world heavyweight champion.

On Thursday, footage emerged of Tyson appearing to attack a fellow passenger on board a flight to Florida, with the 'victim' ending up bloodied following the exchange.

The video appeared to show one man sat behind and talking to the 55-year-old as they waited for the flight to take off, with the man turning to his mate on several occasions.

Eventually the former boxer, once known as the 'most dangerous man on the planet,' seemed to have had enough and started punching the fan.

Tyson's representatives then claimed that he had been 'harrassed' by the fan and had a bottle of water thrown at him, but that's now been denied.

A statement from the lawyers of 'victim' Melvin Townsend III told TMZ, "Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan. When Mike Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial.

Tyson appears to lay into the fan. Image: TMZ

"At a certain point, Mr. Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner.

"This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr. Tyson.

"To state the obvious, as one of the greatest fighters of all time, Mr. Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands on an overly excited fan."

Tyson was back in the ring in 2020, in an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr. Image: PA Images

A source close to the 'victim' also told TMZ that Townsend "Is still in shock and has not made a determination on what his next steps will be.

"He hired counsel due to his physical injuries, the overwhelming nature of this event and the associated media inquiries."

That suggests that Tyson, recently named one of the 10 greatest heavyweights of all time, could soon face legal action from his fellow passenger.

It wouldn't be the first time for the former heavyweight world champion, who claimed that he once had to pay someone $8 million for breaking their jaw in an incident in which they asked him for an autograph.

Topics: Heavyweight Boxing, Boxing, Mike Tyson

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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