Following his controversial altercation with a fan on a JetBlue flight, boxing icon Mike Tyson has received support from UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
The man who harassed Mike Tyson and got punched by Tyson in return has been identified as Melvin George Townsend III, a native of Punta Gorda, Florida. Townsend, 36, is an ex-convict and has spent time in multiple tenures for different crimes. He recently made the headlines when he was punched on an airplane by Mike Tyson after allegedly harassing the former boxing world champion. Videos have surfaced online that depict Tyson plummeting the 36-year-old in his seat.
As the story goes, Townsend was overly enthusiastic when he saw Tyson get on the plane. He even took photos with Tyson, but things soon went sour right after. Townsend was apparently annoying Tyson, which resulted in Tyson telling Townsend to “stay quiet”. But the ex-convict did not heed Tyson’s demands, and allegedly threw a bottle at the Iron Mike.
This sparked a physical altercation, as Tyson repeatedly punched the man enough that he got bruises on his head. Although both Townsend and his attorney claim that no bottle was thrown, he is yet to press any charges against Mike Tyson.
Following this controversial event, many people have shared their views. One of the most popular amongst those is UFC Middleweight champion Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya. The Nigerian-born New Zealander appeared on Tyson’s podcast “Hotboxin With Mike Tyson” a few weeks ago, and has now come out to show his support for the former champion.
Israel posted a story and photo on his Instagram of him sitting beside Tyson on the set of his podcast with the title “Thank You.”. He also shared an image of Tyson that quotes, “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and getting punched in the face for it.”
