Mike Tyson punched a man on a JetBlue flight, and now that man wants to be paid for taking the hit.
Melvin Townsend, the man who was punched, sent Tyson’s lawyers a pre-litigation settlement demand for injuries and damages that he suffered when he claims Tyson “viciously assaulted him” in April 2022.
Townsend claims that he was just a fan excited to chat with Tyson before things turned physical on the plane. At the time of the altercation, Tyson’s representatives said that the boxer punched Townsend because he threw a water bottle at him.
“As a former undisputed heavyweight champion, the potential to cause severe injuries to another person goes without question,” Townsend’s attorney said. “There were several other remedies available to Mr. Tyson, but he chose physical violence. Immediately after the incident, Mr. Townsend had a severe headache and neck pain and is still suffering with the effects of the assault to this day.”
Townsend and his lawyers are looking for a settlement demand of $450,000.
“I have received a shakedown letter related to some instigator’s harassment of Mike a year ago and the aftermath,” Tyson’s lawyer, Alex Spiro said.
Tyson has since apologized for the incident when he went on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in July 2022 and addressed the altercation.
“That’s me back in my primitive child stages,” Tyson said. “But I was irritated, tired, high, and pissed off. S— happens.”
