While speaking with guests Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Tyson described how the passenger, later identified by TMZ as Melvin Townsend III, “triggered” him before the former heavyweight champion turned around to punch the man in the face multiple times.
Townsend, who could be seen with a bloodied face, received medical attention following the incident. “He was f*cking with me, man,” Tyson said of Townsend, adding, “I took pictures with this n***a.” “I shouldn’t even be taking public planes,” he continued. “My wife gets mad that I take public planes but what am I gonna do on a fucking plane with my friends?”
Tyson went on to question how people expected him to react in a scenario such as the one that went down in April. “What am I going to do on a f*cking plane with my friends and [a bodyguard who’s] supposed to watch me?” Tyson said.