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AUTHORITIES WILL NOT file criminal charges against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson after he was recorded on video punching a fellow passenger on a plane at San Francisco International Airport last month, prosecutors announced.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said it has closed the case.
The victim and Tyson both requested that charges not be filed, District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said in a statement.
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 TMZ, which said it was recorded on a Jet Blue plane bound for Florida.
Prior to the physical altercation, the other passenger was seen on the video standing over Tyson’s seat – waving his arms and talking animatedly while the former boxer sits quietly.
Representatives for Tyson previously said the boxer was on a flight with “an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat”.
Attorneys for Tyson praised the district attorney’s decision in a statement on Tuesday, thanking law enforcement for their “careful, diligent and professional work”.
Since Tyson retired from boxing, he has worked as an actor, podcaster and cannabis entrepreneur.
He was in San Francisco in April 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’s ear during a fight in 1997.
Thank God I grew up in a time where every action wasn’t recorded by a mobile phone. These days your whole life is documented from birth to death.
@Mike Ruddy: if it was not for mobile phones, George Floyd’s murdered would have gotten away with murdered !
@Punker: The whole world is beginning to look like “The Truman Show” – what you say may be true, you have to also admit that it’s a lot easier for governments to spread misinformation all around the world to suit their agenda (propaganda) I was talking to a friend the other day about upgrading my lawnmower. Every time I went on social media for a week afterwards, all I saw was lawnmowers. Coincidence?
@Punker:
There’s also a lot of violence amongst teenagers in particular for the sole reason so they can film it and show the world how tough they are. They mightnt bother if they couldn’t film it. It’s a 2 way street.
@Mike Ruddy: it’s a common misconception that our phones are listening to us to target ads, but the truth is that they don’t need to. They already know where you are all the time, who you know, what you buy etc. it’s likely that your phone knew you were near your neighbour’s phone and he googled lawnmowers and so you got targeted with that too.
@Mike Ruddy: get an automower, you won’t regret it
He was goaded in that by a person looking for a hand out and looking for a celebrity status, but in fairness he should have walked away from it.
@Valentine Kane: he was on a flight, where he gonna walk to
@Valentine Kane: Hard to walk away from it when hes on a flight and that person is sitting directly behind him, constantly at tyson over the chair.
@Valentine Kane: what sort of a gombeen carrys on like that with mike tyson? I mean of all people.
@Paul Hedderman: even as a child you were always told to keep your hands to yourself and if there was another person who was upsetting you, let an adult know.
Tyson was provoked but should have more sense then rising to it
@Colm O’ Shea: Should he rhyme off “sticks and stones may break my bones……….” as well?…. I applaud Tyson for sitting there calmly while an obnoxious drunk was harassing him, from behind over his shoulder, for as long as he did.
@Colm O’ Shea: he is not renowned for his ability to not rise to things, dunno what that lad was thinking, even if he was locked.
Glad to hear this. Hopefully some people will realise you can’t goad people into a reaction and think there won’t be consequences. What kind of person does that to Mike Tyson, just because your recording it doesn’t give someone a free pass.
Brilliant! The gut was being a knob and got what he deserved!!
Play silly games, win silly prizes
@pistachio 32: I’ve missed this phrase!
“Everyone has a plan until they pun-ched in the mouth”
Proper decision.
Tyson was on the Club Random podcast ‘this’ week, he surprised me, a lot.
Really not happy with the Jake Paul fight prospect though :/
Compo hunter by the looks of it … he probably got a brown envelope
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