The internet has seemingly sided with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson after a video from a flight on Wednesday night appeared to show the legendary boxer punching another passenger who was allegedly harassing him, but it looks like it might be costly.
Video footage first released by TMZ Sports shows Tyson punching a man seated a row behind him at San Francisco International Airport on a flight headed to Miami. According to Tyson’s reps, the man was badgering him and even launched a water bottle at Tyson prior to the incident.
Townsend did not seem to want to deal with police after the incident, and for good reason, since social media has since found out about his criminal history.
San Francisco Police Department spokeswoman Kathryn Winters said officers detained and released two people, one of whom “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation.”
However, he has now hired a lawyer and rejected the claim that he threw a water bottle.
Via TMZ:
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral Boxing stories via Google! Follow Us
“The man Mike Tyson repeatedly punched on a JetBlue plane has lawyered up, and the attorney’s first thoughts are suggesting a lawsuit might not be far away.
Attorney Matt Morgan from Morgan & Morgan, who reps Melvin Townsend III, tells 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.”
He goes on … “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.”
Attorney Morgan says, “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.”
TMZ added that Townsend is still in shock over the incident.
