Why did anti-Israel activists attack Floyd Mayweather?

Supporting Israel’s right to exist can be a treacherous business in Britain these days. People and businesses with even the most tangential links to the Jewish State can find themselves boycotted and attacked.

Since 7 October, pro-Palestine activists have boycotted Starbucks (despite it not having a single outlet in Israel), released rats into a Birmingham branch of McDonald’s (despite the store being owned by a local franchisee) and picketed outside Marks and Spencer (the founder was Jewish). If those antics weren’t abhorrent enough, the latest target of the pro-Gaza mob suggests some in the movement may have genuinely lost their minds. Surely, you would have to be at least a little crazy to try to take on Floyd Mayweather, one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers in history.

Mayweather, who has fought and defeated five hall-of-fame champions and 24 world-title holders over the course of his career, was jumped by a mob last week. While out shopping for jewellery in London’s Hatton Garden, the retired boxer was pounced on by roughly 30 people before his security guards intervened – although for whose safety, it’s not clear. Footage shows he was more than happy to give as good as he got before he was dragged into a waiting car. ‘I’ll get these motherfuckers’, he can be heard saying during the scuffle.

It seems Mayweather was targeted because of his vocal support for Israel. According to a witness who worked at one of the jewellery shops, he was referred to as a ‘yahud’ (Arabic for Jew) by his would-be assailants, despite not actually being Jewish. He then hit back, saying he was ‘proud to support the Jews’.

The attack came just days after he launched the ‘Mayweather Israel Initiative’, which plans to hand every orphan in Israel a special birthday gift from the ‘Floyd Mobile’ (a van emblazoned with the boxer’s face). In stark contrast to most celebrities, Mayweather spoke up for Israel in the wake of the 7 October massacre, and has even met with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Denying reports that he ‘took a few hits’ in Hatton Garden last week, Mayweather insists he was unscathed by the altercation. ‘I wasn’t punched or touched in any way’, he has since said. Despite being significantly outnumbered, it is certainly more than possible that the mob failed to lay a glove on ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd. After all, thanks to his perfect ‘Philly Shell’, or Michigan shoulder roll, he managed to get through his 50-fight career without ever being knocked down to the canvas – a feat almost unheard of.

Fortunately, Floyd Mayweather is a man who can handle himself in a scrap. But no one should be ever physically attacked for failing the Palestine purity test. We need to stand up to this movement of bigots and cranks.

Hugo Timms is an intern at spiked.