The man pummeled by Mike Tyson on a JetBlue flight is demanding $450,000 in what the former heavyweight champ’s attorney has blasted as a “shakedown.”
A lawyer for Melvin Townsend sent Iron Mike’s lawyers a “pre-litigation settlement demand” for “injuries and damages” they say he suffered when Tyson “viciously assaulted him” on a flight from San Francisco to Florida in April last year.
The legal letter claims the North Carolina man was merely a fan “excited” to chat to the now-57-year-old pugilist before the showdown that was filmed by other passengers and is “widely available on the Internet.”
“As a former undisputed heavyweight champion, the potential to cause severe injuries to another person goes without question,” wrote Townsend’s attorney, Jake Jondle.
“There were several other remedies available to Mr.
Tyson, but he chose physical violence,” he wrote, noting how the star later acknowledged in a TV interview that he “was wrong” and it “never should’ve happened.”
“Immediately after the incident, Mr. Townsend had a severe headache and neck pain” and “is still suffering with the effects of the assault to this day,” Jondle wrote.
He could not immediately get medical help because he did not have insurance, and also lost “several jobs due to the unfortunate notoriety he experienced,” Jondle.
The six-figure pre-litigation settlement would cover Townsend’s ongoing medical care, including medication, therapy, and other regular treatment for head and neck pain as well as depression and PTSD, Jondle wrote.
By agreeing to the settlement, Townsend would be precluded from filing any future lawsuits against Tyson.
The boxer’s attorney, Alex Spiro, firmly refused to cooperate or pay out.
“I have received a shakedown letter related to some instigator’s harassment of Mike a year ago and the aftermath,” Spiro said of the request.
“There will be no shakedown payment.”
Jondle did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The JetBlue flight incident made headlines when footage of Tyson turning and leaning over his seat in order to punch Townsend several times was published on TMZ.
Townsend was later photographed with what appeared to be blood smeared on his head.
Tyson reacted violently because Townsend threw a water bottle at him, the boxer’s reps said at the time.
The pre-litigation demand, however, claims that Townsend was simply “excited” to see Tyson and “began discussing the marijuana industry and psychedelic mushrooms with him.”
The letter also cites Tyson’s subsequent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, during which he admitted “I shouldn’t have done that” about the beat-down.
“I was wrong, that should’ve never happened,” Tyson told the host.
“That’s me back in my primitive child stages… but I was just irritated, tired, high, and pissed off. S–t happens.”
Authorities declined to charge Tyson related to the incident, which the former athlete bragged about on the “Hotboxin’” podcast in May 2022.
“He was f–king with me, man,” the former athlete and convicted rapist told the host of Townsend, who has previous convictions for fraud, grand theft, and burglary, among other charges.