Man Hassles Mike Tyson On An Airplane, Gets Punched Repeatedly, Memes Follow

Professional boxer Mike Tyson is making the rounds online today after reportedly punching a fellow passenger on a Jet Blue flight out of San Francisco several times. A viral video of the incident showed the passenger, purportedly inebriated, continually hassling and talking to Tyson, who is sitting in the seat in front of him until Tyson turns around and begins hitting him in the head.

Me chasing the bag after getting punched by Mike Tyson pic.twitter.com/j0rHYvSfph

— $tefan Urquelle 👑 (@Dapeachstategod) April 21, 2022

The footage appears to have been filmed by a friend of the man who hassled Tyson. The person filming comments throughout, and the video is cut several times — potentially indicating that the man had been attempting to start a conversation with Tyson for a long while.

In the video, the man also imitates Tyson, drinks and then talks about offering shrooms to the boxer. Near the end, Tyson turns around and punches him repeatedly as another passenger attempts to de-escalate the situation and pull Tyson away.

Mike Tyson punches man on plane multiple times after provoking him 😳‼️
pic.twitter.com/3Z5jNk8Wme

— RapTV (@Rap) April 21, 2022

Online today, defenders of Tyson pointed out the annoying behavior displayed by the man in the video, arguing that he deserved the beating that he received.

A man was HARASSING Mike Tyson on a Jet Blue flight, and Mike had to put hands on him to stop the harassment. pic.twitter.com/NDjrfntrxn

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) April 21, 2022

Mike Tyson had a man point a gun at him and ended up hugging him. Whatever this dude did deserved all the smoke. https://t.co/OoiRhTWVtz

— Tony Dock Ed.S⚫️🟡 (@AfrikanFengShui) April 21, 2022

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you know how annoying yo ass gotta be to annoy mike tyson these days? 😭 https://t.co/Gqr33DjE14

— Cory Lastname (@smonkerino) April 21, 2022

While I am not saying Mike Tyson was right in punching dude, if Mike Tyson tells me to leave him alone, I’m going to try to change seats just in case I fall asleep so my snoring doesn’t disturb him. https://t.co/8vbO9O5HEb

— Gerald Goodridge (@ghgoodridge) April 21, 2022

Others questioned the wisdom of annoying Mike Tyson on an airplane to begin with, arguing that the man’s supposed stupidity and disregard for personal safety make what happened to him inevitable.

Mike Tyson owned 3 lions in his lifetime and they all respected him.. this is suicide https://t.co/HeWeO23keq

— DAYTON (@Dayton_love) April 21, 2022

Mike Tyson tells you to chill, and you don’t chill, cops just gotta understand…

— Kazeem Famuyide (@Kazeem) April 21, 2022

Why would you even have nerve to harass Mike Tyson on a plane in 30,000 feet knowing you cant run nowhere lmao https://t.co/WLbu8D6JZJ

— Ingress (@IngressNC) April 21, 2022

Memers online riffed on the reactions and characters in the video, celebrating Tyson’s personality and strength alongside the jokes.

Mike Tyson was in that airplane like: pic.twitter.com/HR5B8WSKsw

— 🎙 HiphopSessions (@AllHHSessions) April 21, 2022

We’ve seen Mike Tyson keep his cool too many times when he should’ve punch a few mfs, he gets a pass. https://t.co/dRVahl3Pn1

— Junior Maruwa (@juniormaruwa) April 21, 2022

There are no good guys in this Mike Tyson story but I never side with anyone with this haircut: pic.twitter.com/XxNOCUGecf

— JFL 🇨🇦 Ontario Tour April 19-29 (@anylaurie16) April 21, 2022

Others on social media platforms like Twitter memed the injuries received by the man in the video, spawning a slew of reaction memes as the story went viral this morning.

The guy after blocking Mike Tyson punches with his face pic.twitter.com/kKFaZSAT73

— Rent Em Spoons 🥷🏿 (@DerekJBiz) April 21, 2022

This is exactly what I would expect a Before and After of getting rocked by Mike Tyson to look like. pic.twitter.com/oKiFQh90ga

— colls (@_colls_) April 21, 2022

A strain of discourse cropped up around the video and its coverage in the media, with many objecting to the framing of headlines and stories about the incident. They argued that the press painted Tyson as the "aggressor," when in fact he was "defending himself."

I don't like this low-key anti-Black, white media narrative that "Mike Tyson lost his cool".

Mike was being HARASSED by a clout chasing troll. And they were on a plane, where u can't just get up & walk away. And the airline wasn't stopping the harasser. So Mike defended himself https://t.co/kiLzBIJMon

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) April 21, 2022

Terrible journalism… Witnesses say Mike took a selfie and was nice, but the man kept harassing him. Like why would you keep bothering anybody let alone Iron Mike?

Headline should read: Mike Tyson Punches Man After Being Harassed. https://t.co/YRekTUovzH

— Daniel Hooven (@Dan_Hooven) April 21, 2022

May these memes stand as a warning: The next time you see a highly celebrated and notoriously brutal boxer in a public space, maybe don't antagonize them.