Boxing

The man Mike Tyson repeatedly punched on a JetBlue plane has lawyered up, and the attorney's first thoughts are suggesting a lawsuit might not be far away.

Attorney Matt Morgan from Morgan & Morgan, who reps Melvin Townsend III, tells TMZ, "Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan. When Mike Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial."

He goes on ... "At a certain point, Mr. Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner. This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr. Tyson."

As we reported, Tyson's team told TMZ Townsend had thrown a water bottle at Tyson, before Mike unleashed on him.

Townsend was bloodied and suffered what appear to be minor injuries from the punches. He declined to press charges and both he and Tyson were free to leave after the incident.

Attorney Morgan says, "To state the obvious, as one of the greatest fighters of all time, Mr. Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands on an overly excited fan."

As you see in the video, Townsend is all over Tyson before the punches.

A source directly connected to Townsend says he, "Is still in shock and has not made a determination on what his next steps will be. He hired counsel due to his physical injuries, the overwhelming nature of this event and the associated media inquiries."

It sounds like the book is not closed on this incident, and a lawsuit might be in the offing.

Mike Tyson isn't letting his violent plane beatdown ruin his high -- the boxing legend smoked like a chimney alongside Rick Ross and Ric Flair Thursday night ... around 24 hours after he punched the crap out of a man.

Iron Mike was grinning from ear to ear with the rap superstar and wrestling legend during the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference afterparty at LIV in Miami ... taking the stage and sparking up as the crowd cheered below.

Tyson was initially supposed to speak at the weed conference Thursday afternoon alongside the Nature Boy ... but after his violent altercation with an apparent heckler, event organizers said his scheduled appearance was scrapped "due to a flight change."

Tyson seemingly made up for the scheduling conflict at the afterparty ... although it's unclear if he addressed the incident with folks in attendance.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Tyson repeatedly punched a man on a plane at SFO on Wednesday ... after the passenger allegedly threw a water bottle at him.

Our Tyson sources claim the man was completely wasted -- and wouldn't stop provoking him until the beatdown.

The 55-year-old boxing legend was also super friendly with fans in Miami following the incident on Thursday ... posing for pictures and meeting supporters outside a hotel.

The man who got punched by Mike Tyson on a JetBlue plane has a long criminal record ... TMZ has learned.

His name -- Melvin Townsend, III, and this isn't his first encounter with cops, by any means. He's been convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances and trafficking in stolen property.

As for 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.

TMZ broke the story ... Townsend looks like he was harassing Tyson after they boarded the flight Wednesday from San Francisco to Miami. Before the plane took off, Townsend, who was sitting behind Tyson, was hounding him. Mike's team claims Townsend threw a water bottle at him.

The boxing champ then snapped and unloaded on him with repeated punches, leaving him bloodied. Both men got off the plane and were met by cops. Townsend said he didn't want to press charges and they both were free to go.

Mike Tyson looks like a happy camper on the heels of punching the crap out of an annoying passenger on an airplane ... and he's more than happy to take selfies with adoring fans.

Iron Mike rolled up to the Eden Roc Miami hotel Thursday evening -- he's in town for a cannabis conference, and he took time to greet folks outside the lobby. He was trying to get to Miami on Wednesday when he boarded that JetBlue flight in San Fran.

This is the first public sighting of MT since we first posted the video of him raining down blows on the man who was seated behind him on the plane.

Based on this new footage of Mike in Miami, it doesn't look like he's worried about any potential fallout from the airplane beatdown.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Mike started punching the guy who had been harassing Mike. The video definitely shows him jawing at Tyson nonstop, and sources close to Mike say the guy even threw a water bottle at the champ before the fists started flying.

The San Francisco Police Dept. tells us cops responded to the scene and detained 2 people they believed to be involved in the incident, treating one for non-life-threatening injuries, but say the person who was injured refused to cooperate with their investigation.

Seems like everyone's weighing in on the video, including Dana White. The UFC honcho posted a funny video showing the proper way to engage Tyson on a plane.

Mike Tyson seemed to lose his cool on a plane on Wednesday night ... repeatedly punching a man in the face after the guy had apparently annoyed him.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the incident all went down at around 10:30 PM PT as Tyson was slated to fly out of San Francisco International Airport to Florida.

A witness on the plane says as he and his friend were boarding Tyson's flight ... the boxing legend was initially cool with them and the other passengers.

The witness tells us Mike took a selfie with him ... and then was patient with his overly excited buddy, who kept trying to talk to the 55-year-old fighter as he sat behind him.

Eventually, though, we're told Tyson had enough of the guy behind him talking in his ear ... and told him to chill. When the guy didn't, that's when the witness says Tyson started to throw several punches at the man's face.

Video we obtained shows Tyson throwing a flurry of blows at the man, which you can see bloodied the passenger's forehead. The witness says Mike walked off the plane just seconds later.

We're told the man who was punched received medical attention and then went to the police over the incident. We've reached out to cops for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

We've also reached out to JetBlue and Tyson's camp for comment on the incident as well, but no word back yet there either.

Jake Paul says Mike Tyson didn't do a damn thing wrong when he pummeled a passenger aboard his flight ... 'cause the Problem Child flat out says the guy deserved to get beat up!

"If you’re being heckled in public like Mike Tyson was you should legally get a hall pass to beat someone’s ass. This generation thinks they can get away with anything," Jake wrote on Twitter.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... 55-year-old Tyson unloaded a flurry of punches to the face of a fellow passenger in the first-class cabin aboard a Jet Blue flight around 10:30 PM on Wednesday.

The flight -- scheduled to depart from San Francisco -- never made it off the ground with Mike on board ... as the former undisputed heavyweight champ was removed from the airplane after the melee.

And, like Jake says, Iron Mike's people tell us he was on the receiving end of some uncalled for heckling just prior to the physical altercation.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat,” Mike's reps said in a statement to us.

San Francisco PD tell us they responded to the scene and detained two people they believed were part of the fight ... however, released both a short time later after they say a man treated for non-life-threatening injuries refused to cooperate.

Police did not specify whether one of the men was Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson's rep says the man he punched repeatedly on a plane on Wednesday was not only harassing him ... but also threw a water bottle at him before the fight.

Reps for Tyson made the claims in a statement to TMZ Sports ... also saying the passenger on the San Francisco plane was "aggressive" during the incident as well.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him," Tyson's reps said Thursday, "and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat."

As we reported, Tyson was seen on video unloading a flurry of punches on the man after the plane's passenger had appeared to be annoying Tyson in his seat.

Footage we obtained shows the man was bloodied following Tyson's barrage of blows ... and a witness says the guy needed medical attention.

The witness also told us the man went to law enforcement following the altercation ... though authorities still have not commented publicly on the situation.

Tyson, meanwhile, is expected to make a public appearance Thursday night at a marijuana industry event in Miami.

Mike Tyson is not letting his airplane beatdown stop him from talking to a bunch of bigwigs in the weed biz at an industry event ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Our sources say Tyson is slated to speak at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference Afterparty at LIV in Miami at around 8 PM ET on Thursday night ... despite bloodying a man in an altercation on a plane in San Francisco on Wednesday night.

What's interesting ... Tyson was initially scheduled to talk at the Cannabis Capital Conference -- an event for those in the weed industry -- at 12:05 p.m. ET with Ric Flair, but event organizers told conference-goers Mike had to cancel on that "due to a flight change."

No word on if Tyson will address the plane incident at the afterparty ... or stick strictly to marijuana talk.

As we reported, Tyson was captured on video throwing a flurry of punches at a man on a plane at SFO on Wednesday after the passenger had appeared to annoy him.

Footage shows following the blows, the man was bleeding from his forehead. A witness on the plane told us the man required medical attention and went to the police.

For his part, sources close to Tyson claim the man was extremely intoxicated ... and wouldn't stop provoking the boxer prior to the outburst.

Oscar De La Hoya is being accused of sexually assaulting a woman on two occasions ... with the former co-worker alleging the boxing star brutalized her, causing "severe physical and emotional damage" that plagues her to this day.

But, the boxing Hall of Famer is adamantly denying the claims ... accusing the woman of being nothing more than a bitter employee who was fired.

"Unfortunately, with the twenty-four-hour news cycle, we find ourselves today, more often than not, as the recipient of vindictive and unjust accusations that are interpreted and spread as truth -- without any evidence to support erroneous claims," Oscar's rep told TMZ Sports in a statement.

As for the explosive allegations ... they're part of a larger lawsuit -- initially filed by Casa Mexico Enterprises -- where 49-year-old De La Hoya is a business partner.

ODLH's accuser was sued by Casa Mexico ... before filing a countersuit where she revealed the disturbing claims.

The accuser says she was on a work trip with Oscar and others at the company distillery in Mexico in March 2020. She says while fast asleep, someone began banging on her door. She says she got up and opened the door, only to find ODLH standing there with his pants around his ankles. She claims Oscar pushed his way past her and got into her bed.

The accuser states she got Oscar out of her bed, and back into his own room ... before returning to her room for the night.

However, the next morning she claims she was tasked with waking Oscar up ... and that's when she says things took a turn for the worst.

The alleged victim says she knocked on the door, but didn't get a response. She went inside the room. Once inside, the woman claims Oscar "subsequently pulled [name withheld] into his bed, where he sexually assaulted her."

The lawsuit makes no mention of the woman going to law enforcement ... or alerting Casa Mexico execs.

Unfortunately, the woman says the abuse didn't end there.

Sometime after the Mexico trip, the woman says she went to dinner with work colleagues, including Oscar, before returning to his home after eating.

The woman claims Oscar "revealed and retrieved a sexual object from a stored collection in his house" and "forcibly inserted the sexual object into" the alleged victim's body.

At that point, the woman says she alerted Don Buccio, the Casa Mexico founder, but she says no action was taken.

Despite the serious allegations, De La Hoya believes his name will be cleared.

Logan Paul continues to cut his ties to L.A. ... selling his mansion for $7.405 million.

Real estate sources tell TMZ the deal was finalized Wednesday for the 7-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 7,667-square-foot home which is set behind a private gate comes with a massive yard, wine cellar, and a billiards room.

The new owners will be able to enjoy a large pool, plenty of lounge and entertaining space, an outdoor Grotto kitchen and a detached guest house with a full bedroom, bathroom, and complete view of the property.

Logan bought the house in 2017 for $6.6 million and remastered and renovated the pad while living in it. While the profit isn't as big as he first wanted -- he listed it for $8.995M -- $1M turnaround ain't bad.

We broke the story ... Logan's house hit the market last November. Paul has been very vocal in the last couple years about his desire to move to Puerto Rico for financial reasons.

Amir Khan is providing a blow-by-blow of the terrifying moment thieves stuck guns in his face and stole his luxury watch -- while his wife watched from just feet away -- telling TMZ Sports "it's the first time I ever had a gun literally pointed at my face."

We talked to the 35-year-old former boxing champion a day after his night out on the town with wife Faryal Makhdoom nearly turned deadly ... and asked the former boxing champion about the life-altering experience.

"In the UK, I mean the law is quite strong where hardly anyone, even the police, don't really carry guns," Amir explained, exasperated.

"So, it was quite shocking to see a gun pointed at me. And you could see that they were young. They seemed a bit nervous, and he kept saying to me, 'take off your watch.'"

We asked Amir, who had just finished eating in a restaurant about 45 minutes outside of London, if he believed the lick was somehow an inside job.

"Yeah, definitely. Obviously, I was in a restaurant taking pictures with a lot of people. I've never said no for a picture whenever someone wants to come for a picture," Khan said, explaining someone may have spotted the wristwatch and knew it was worth a pretty penny.

"Someone must've recognized that watch. I was wearing a really expensive watch which is worth like maybe $100,000. I think that news must've traveled a little bit. So, I do think that somehow it was set up. Maybe the news just went to the wrong people, and they knew I had a watch there."

We asked Khan -- who has some of the most dangerous hands in the world -- if he considered launching a counter-ambush and attempting to disarm the thieves.

Amir says the thought crossed his mind.

"I'm a fighter. There was a time I thought, he had the pistol and I can just move the pistol to the side and hit him. I know I would've hurt the guy."

But, he felt with two gunmen, and Faryal only feet away, the risk was too high.

"The only thing that stopped me was having my wife not far from me, behind me. Even if he shot the gun and even if it didn't hit me, it could've hit someone else."

After the robbery, Amir, as you'd expect, called the cops ... who immediately launched an investigation. We asked him if the police had any leads or suspects.

"The last time I spoke to them was obviously after the interview I had and they said that they saw where the car went, and they've got the car in that radius -- they've got the cameras around that car."

So far, Khan hasn't heard of any arrests that have been made.

Perhaps the saddest part about the story ... Amir, who grew up in Manchester, says he no longer feels secure in one of the world's most popular cities.

"I don't feel safe. I'm in the city London which is obviously a very well known town and everyone loves London. Now, after I was robbed, you start hearing all the stories or you start reading up on all the robberies that have happened. I mean, it's quite regularly happening," Khan says.

Jake Paul flipped men's boxing on it's head ... and now he's doing the same for the women, telling TMZ Sports stars Amanda Serrano AND Katie Taylor will both make OVER $1 MILLION when they fight next month, and the Problem Child believes it could be the "biggest fight of the year," man or woman.

"The history that this is making. First time women have ever headlined Madison Square Garden, which is massive, and two of the pound-for-pound best going at it, this is what boxing needs more of. I am counting down the days," Jake told us.

Serrano -- who fights for Jake's Most Valuable Promotions -- is 42-1-1. Taylor is 20-0. The women, along with Claressa Shields, are considered the three best active female boxers alive.

Typically, women's boxing hasn't received anywhere near the interest the men have ... but that's something Jake sees changing.

"I think it will shine a light that women boxing is just as good as men boxing. I think that's been a stigma for so long. 'Oh we don't wanna see that, we don't wanna see it. It's not as fun.' No! These women are awesome, they're legit, they are savages and you're gonna see a war April 30, and I think this is gonna open up a lot of doors for women's boxing in general."

It's not just eyeballs and media attention that are sometimes lacking when it comes to women's boxing ... there's also a pay disparity. But, Paul says Amanda and Katie are gettin' PAAIIIID.

"They're both getting 7-figure payday which is unprecedented and will knock down so many doors for the women that deserve this pay over the next couple of years. This is just historic for the sport in general."

And, JP's prediction for the scrap?

If Jake and Logan Paul make the switch from boxing to MMA, they could go up against some of the biggest talent in the game -- so says Bellator CEO Scott Coker, who tells us they could fight some Top 10 guys in his promotion!!

Of course, Coker has previously said he's had ongoing dialogue with the internet superstars ... and when we spoke with him at a Bellator event at the Grammy Museum last week, he gave us an update on their status.

"We've had convos with [Logan] and Jake about, 'What does MMA mean to you guys,' and 'What do you guys wanna do?'" Coker told us. "There's ongoing dialogue, but if they wanna really get down and get serious, we'll bring them in. Sure, why not."

Coker says Jake and Logan are great athletes who are still learning and getting better ... adding he warned people of their potential.

"When they started boxing two years ago," Coker said, "I told people don't underestimate these guys, because they're gonna get better and better and better."

He continued ... "It's just a matter of them training and practicing. If they get into a gym like [American Kickboxing Academy] with Javier Mendez ... talk to me in a year, man."

Jake and Logan still have their fair share of haters as they continue to transition from social media stars to real fighters ... but Coker applauds the brothers' work ethic.

"I'm impressed with how much they've grown over the last two years, and if they have their mind made up, I think they can come get into it."

The Bellator boss says he wouldn't put the Paul bros. against a current champion or an experienced MMA fighter just yet ... but with enough training and hard work, he believes they could fight someone ranked in the top 10.

As for his message to the Paul Bros??

Dana White says he's hoping to get Jon Jones back in the Octagon this summer ... telling TMZ Sports a fight against former heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic is an obvious move.

Bones hasn't fought since February 2020, when he beat Dominick Reyes via unanimous decision at UFC 247.

We talked to the UFC boss about the superstar's future recently ... and it sounds like this year's International Fight Week is going to be an absolute banger.

"Listen, people have been talking about how awesome this card is, and I was just telling somebody the other day our lineup for this summer is incredible," White said.

"I'm hoping that Jon Jones is gonna be a part of that lineup this summer."

We followed up and asked if this meant we could see Jon take on Francis Ngannou or Stipe Miocic ... and fans of the former champ out of Ohio are gonna be excited.

"Yeah, Stipe makes sense."

As for another UFC legend -- Conor McGregor -- Dana says he's not going to consider giving him a fight until he's 100% and cleared ... and that hasn't happened yet.

It's been nearly four years since Cris Cyborg lost to Amanda Nunes ... but she STILL wants her revenge -- telling TMZ Sports she's still gunning for a rematch with The Lioness.

Cyborg initially lost to the UFC legend in December 2018 -- and she's clearly not over it ... explaining to us out at LAX that she'd love to get another crack.

The 36-year-old says she initially wanted to run things back right after the fight 3.5 years ago -- but wasn't able to make it happen.

Now, she tells us she's down to get it done in any way -- even if that means making the fight happen on their own.

In the meantime, Cyborg is set to square off with Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279 on April 23 ... and she says she's excited to try to get the win even though she's already beaten Blencowe back in Oct. 2020.

As for how much longer Cyborg plans to fight ... she tells us she's still planning to be around for a while -- hoping to get three more years in.

Boxer Chris van Heerden is fighting undefeated rising star, Conor Benn, in the U.K. Saturday afternoon ... but the vet isn't content with being Benn's 21st victim, he's looking to shock the boxing world and emerge victorious.

TMZ Sports talked to 34-year-old van Heerden (28-2-1-1, 12 KO's) in Los Angeles days before he hopped on a plane and headed across the pond for one of the toughest matchups in his long career.

We asked Chris if he felt confident he'd beat Benn.

"Hell yeah, man. You know what, we're goin' to Manchester, I know we're going to a hostile crowd. I'm excited," Chris says.

"We're talking about 20,000 people in the AO Arena. I'm going to London with one thing on my mind and that's to get the victory. I want to upset him, you know? Conor Benn 20-0."

Benn -- who was born in London -- is only 25 years old. He's ranked 5th in the welterweight division. There's been talk of him being ready to take on the likes of Terence Crawford and Errol Spence. Conor is also the son of former champ, Nigel Benn.

In the week leading up to the fight, Conor has talked about being ready to face the top fighters in the division ... but Chris -- the first southpaw CB will fight -- believes Benn hasn't faced any tough competition thus far.

"Who has he fought? Who has he fought? He hasn't really fought anybody, but much respect. I've gotta task on my hands that I know I can successfully accomplish so we're going to bring the heat to the U.K."

How does he see himself getting his arm raised?