Melvin Townsend's attorney, Jake Jondle, insists that his client has been dealing with injuries following Mike's attack, including a concussion, cervical radiculopathy and impaired vision.
- Dec 1, 2023
AceShowbiz - Mike Tyson won't bother paying an annoying fan that he punched during a 2022 flight. Although Melvin Townsend is demanding $450,000 from him to avoid a future lawsuit over the incident, the professional boxer refused to give the "shakedown payment."
Melvin's attorney, Jake Jondle, revealed to TMZ Sports that he sent a letter to Mike's lawyer, Alex Spiro, about the demand. In response, Alex stated, "I have received a shakedown letter related to some instigator's harassment of Mike a year ago and the aftermath... There will be no shakedown payment."
Unpleased with the statement, Jake insisted that his client has been dealing with injuries following Mike's attack, including a concussion, cervical radiculopathy and impaired vision. "Not only is the evidence clear that Mr. Tyson committed the intentional torts of assault and battery, but he also acted recklessly and negligently," Jake told the outlet on Thursday, November 30.
"Additionally, Mr. Tyson admitted on national television to attacking Mr. Townsend and never once claimed a legal justification for his actions, such as self-defense," the lawyer added. "He admitted he should not have attacked Mr. Townsend. Being irritated by a fan is not a legal defense to any of Mr. Townsend's claims."
The ordeal took place when Mike took a JetBlue flight from San Francisco to Florida on Wednesday night, April 20. He initially had a few exchanges with the said fan and they even took a selfie together. However, the "extremely intoxicated" guy failed to leave Mike alone as he kept talking in his ear with someone from across the seat filming it.
Having had enough, the heavyweight boxing champion stood up from his seat and punched the man repeatedly. The fan later showed his bloodied forehead to his pal who said, "My boy just got beat up by Mike Tyson... Yeah, he got f**ked up."
Speaking on behalf of Iron Mike, a representative told Entertainment Tonight about the incident, "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."
