Mike Tyson plane fight sparked after ‘passenger threw bottle at him’

Tyson’s representatives said the passenger was being ‘aggressive’ in the moments before the incident

Mike Tyson threw punches at a fellow passenger on board a commercial flight after a water bottle was thrown at him, his representatives have claimed.

Viral footage emerged on Thursday which showed Tyson, a former heavyweight world champion, punching a man in the face before take-off on a flight to Florida.

Tyson’s representatives said the passenger was being “aggressive” and was “harassing” the 55-year-old in the moments before the incident.

A second video shows the passenger attempting to get Tyson’s attention from the row of seats behind him.

Tyson had boarded the flight from San Francisco to Florida but got off the plane following the confrontation and was later detained.

“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,” his representatives said.

Blood could be seen dripping from the man’s forehead after the incident in the initial video.

The passenger “refused to cooperate” with the police investigation, officials said.

Police also said Tyson was detained at San Francisco airport following the incident.

Both Tyson and the other passenger were released pending further investigation.

“Officers arrived and detained two subjects that were believed to be involved in the incident,” police said.

“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.”