Former Gov. Brendan Byrne has often been sucker-punched in politics, but today it happened on the streets of London.

The 85-year-old elder statesman of New Jersey, on vacation in Britain with his wife, Ruthi, had just emerged from Waterloo Station when an assailant rushed up and took a swing at the governor.

"Some nut came out of the blue and punched me in the jaw, and was immediately arrested," Byrne said by phone from his hotel room.

An ambulance arrived and treated the former governor, but he refused to go to a hospital.

"I think I’m alright. I have some cuts on my face," Byrne said. "I never fell down, like when I fought Muhammad Ali."

His recollection fighting the world heavyweight boxing champion was not a sign of confusion after the sudden blow to his face. Byrne did in fact face Muhammad Ali in an exhibition bout at the Jersey City armory in June 1979. The charity event, with then-Jersey City Mayor Thomas Smith, had been organized to raise money for the Jersey City Medical Center.

According to accounts at the time, Byrne insisted on the first match, fearing Smith might antagonize Ali with a real punch and come after him with vengeance. In actuality, it was all staged.

"He told me to throw a right. Then he went down," Byrne recounted today.

This time, though, the violence was real. Byrne and his wife were headed to an afternoon performance of The Power of Yes at the National Theater on South Bank in London, a short walk from Waterloo Station, when the governor was hit without warning. Ruthi Byrne said it was raining and they were trying to get oriented as they emerged from the Underground.

"It all happened so quickly you had no time to think," she said. "It was just startling. Scary."

In seconds, a transit worker knocked the man down and police were called. Byrne and his wife spent the next two hours at the police station, missing the play, but the governor felt well enough to go out to dinner at the landmark Simpsons-in-the-Strand restaurant.

Byrne brushed off the episode.

"I’m surviving," he said. "Have a headache and a sore face. Sore lips."

He and his wife expect to return to New Jersey on Saturday as planned.

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