Authorities on Thursday were investigating an incident in which former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson was recorded on video punching a fellow first-class passenger aboard a plane at San Francisco International Airport.
The video shows Tyson leaning over the back of his seat repeatedly striking the unidentified man in the head, drawing blood. The footage was first shared by , which said it was recorded on a Jet Blue plane bound for Florida.
鈥淯nfortunately, 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,鈥� representatives for Tyson said in an email to The Associated Press.
Prior to the physical altercation, the man is seen on the video standing over Tyson鈥檚 seat, waving his arms and talking animatedly while the former boxer sits quietly.
San Francisco police responded Wednesday around 10 p.m. to a 鈥減hysical altercation鈥� on a plane at the airport鈥檚 domestic terminal, officials said.
鈥淥fficers arrived and detained two subjects that were believed to be involved in the incident. One subject was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries. That subject provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation,鈥� police said in a statement Thursday.
Both were released pending further investigation, the statement said.
Another passenger on the flight, Sarah Burchfield, said she saw the man who Tyson punched at an airport bar earlier appearing loud and quarrelsome.
鈥淲hen I boarded the flight, I thought, `Oh, no, that drunk guy is on our flight,鈥濃�� Burchfield told SFGate.
Burchfield said when she boarded she passed Tyson鈥檚 seat in the first class section of the plane.
鈥淭he belligerent guy was sitting right behind him and I saw they were interacting,鈥� she said. A short time later, she heard the confrontation in first class, she said.
San Francisco police said the video has been shared with the San Mateo County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, which has jurisdiction over the airport.
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Sheriff鈥檚 officials said 鈥渨e are not releasing information on the incident because it is an active investigation.鈥�
JetBlue didn鈥檛 immediately respond to an email seeking additional details.
Since Tyson, 55, retired from boxing, he has worked as an actor, podcaster and cannabis entrepreneur. He was in San Francisco for the annual 420 cannabis festival in Golden Gate Park, where he was promoting his cannabis brand Tyson 2.0, SFGate reported.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1987 at age 20. During his career he had 50 wins, 44 of them by knockout.
In the 1990s Tyson served three years in prison after being convicted of rape. He has maintained his innocence in that case.
Tyson was briefly barred from boxing after infamously biting off part of Evander Holyfield鈥檚 ear during a fight in 1997.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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