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Man Who Mike Tyson Punched on Plane Has Been Identified, Has Criminal Background

Mike Tyson speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, May 4, 2017. Tyson is in Dubai to announce the start of his worldwide boxing gym franchise. Tyson said Thursday that a city like Dubai can show people the best of the Middle East, its people and Islam. Tyson praised the sheikhdom as "a party place, a place you have a good time at. This is like New York, man!" He said that contradicts some negative perceptions of the Mideast. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

It must take someone not right in the head to taunt Mike Tyson on a plane.

Now we know who that man is. The man who got punched by Mike Tyson on a JetBlue plane is named Melvin Townsend, III, and unsurprisingly he has a long criminal record. According to TMZ, Melvin has been convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances and trafficking in stolen property.

TMZ has the specifics:

“The 36-year-old broke onto a property in 2018 and stole a trailer that he hitched to his pickup. The drug possession offense was for oxycodone. Official docs don’t mention other specifics. He served time twice — one for 20 months and another time for 15 months.”

The video of the incident immediately made the rounds yesterday morning, and a few hours after the incident went viral it was revealed Melvin Townsend threw a water bottle at Iron Mike, which apparently was the last straw. Mike snapped and delivered a series of blows the man’s face.

Being on a plane there is absolutely nowhere to run, so yea, not smart.

If this guy was looking for his fifteen minutes of fame, mission accomplished.


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