Israeli MMA Fighter Challenges Muslim Boxer to a Match After He Chases Jewish Zionist in NYC
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Natan Levy steps on the scale for the official weigh-in at the UFC Apex for UFC Fight Night – Font vs Vera on April 29, 2022 in LAS VEGAS, United States. Photo: Sports Press Photo via Reuters Connect
Israeli mixed martial artist Natan Levy challenged Muslim YouTuber and lightweight professional boxer Adam Saleh to a fight after videos circulated online of the latter chasing a Jewish, Israeli man through a New York City park while wearing boxing gloves and shouting “Free Palestine.”
The incident in Washington Square Park began when the Zionist Israeli, live streaming his interaction with Saleh, twice told the boxer “I f–king hate Palestine, I hope they [Palestinians] all get murdered.” He further said about Palestine: “They’re losers; we are going to win.” When Saleh accused Israel of committing genocide during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli replied, “Genocide? It’s a war. It’s not a genocide.”
The angry boxer then offered to fight the man in the park, but his opponent declined and said he would only fight Saleh in a gym instead of illegally in the park. Saleh agreed to take their altercation to a gym, but the man shortly afterward backed out of the fight. Saleh then rallied together a group of locals and told them the Israeli man “supports people killing kids, he hates Palestine.” Saleh and his group of supporters chanted “Free Palestine” repeatedly and Saleh again challenged the man to a fight in the park. He also accused the man of being “definitely Israeli” because the latter said he felt like Saleh was trying to assault him.
As seen in multiple videos on social media, Saleh then put on a pair of boxing gloves and told the Jewish man, “Fight me now or get the f–k out of here.” The man tried to get away from Saleh but the boxer ran after him, chasing him throughout the park. One of Saleh’s teenage family members, who was among the people who chased the Israeli through the park, said: “This is what Israelis do — they run.” Park officials eventually intervened to stop the incident and help the Israeli man exit the park safely, but not before Saleh gathered together even more parkgoers – roughly 15 people – to chant “Free Palestine.”
In response to the incident, Levy asked in an Instagram post on Monday: “Adam Saleh, Are you man enough to fight when you don’t outnumber an untrained guy at the park? Let me know where and when. Am Israel Chai.”
Levy’s post included a video with footage from the incident in Washington Square Park and also another incident from December, in which Saleh tried to remove an Israeli flag from a Jewish-owned coffee shop in New York City and chanted “Free, free Palestine” inside the establishment. Levy’s video on Monday also shows private messages that he and Saleh exchanged on Instagram about last week’s incident before the Muslim boxer blocked Levy.
“Adam Saleh, I see it makes you feel like a big man to chase Israelis in the park and harass older people at a kosher restaurant,” Levy said in the clip he shared on Instagram this week. “I tried to talk to you civilly on Instagram but you played the victim and then blocked me. Now, you’re a boxer and I’m a real fighter. So I got an offer for you. If you have a problem with Israelis, Jews, Zionists … you tell me where and when, and I’ll meet you. See you soon [sic].”
“Saleh, I’m in your city, man. I’m in New York at the park, but you’re nowhere to be found,” Levy said. “I called you out but no response. You were brave when it was five-on-one but now that it’s just one-on-one, man-to-man. Let me know where and when we can meet and settle this.”
Saleh is yet to respond to Levy’s comments.
In December 2023, Saleh posted a video of himself in Starbucks in Union Square, New York, where he yelled at customers for “funding a genocide” allegedly being committed by Israel because of the coffee company’s criticism of a “Solidarity with Palestine” post by labor unions representing its employees.
