On November 28th, Tyson Fury did the unexpected—he beat Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian pugilist who had gone eleven years without a loss. More importantly, in beating Klitschko, Fury, a 27-year-old Mancunian and the son of Irish Travelers, dethroned one of boxing’s last true titans and captured the IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championships, along with the WBA Super Heavyweight Championship and The Ring magazine unified title. Not bad for a night’s work.
One would expect that such an occasion would be cause for jubilation throughout the United Kingdom. After all, modern boxing is a British sport, and unlike most sporting competitions, the British still put on a helluva showing when it comes to fisticuffs. But, as bad luck would have it, Fury’s underdog victory was quickly eclipsed by controversy.
Weeks before squaring off with Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Fury sat down to do an interview with Daily Mail reporter Oliver Holt. In classic Daily Mail fashion, Holt (or his editors) decided to sell the pieces with sensationalism, calling Fury’s comments “vile homophobic slurs” even before readers had a chance to judge for themselves. The sub-headlines further underscore Holt and co.’s disgust with Fury, warning readers that, “Much of what Fury says is disturbing.” Overall, the Daily Mail, which will never win a prize for either honest journalism or a cultivated wit, declared that Fury “is not an urbane man.”
So, what did he say?
Throughout the interview, Fury makes overt references to Armageddon, biblical prophesies, and Old Scratch himself. Same sex marriage and pedophilia (the latter of which is a major obsession in the U.K.) are but clear indicators of the end times for Fury, which of course makes him look like a demon come to earth for Holt and Daily Mail readers. Fury’s beliefs may be the norm in some parts of the U.K. and the United States, but they are certainly unappreciated by the London press. So what? That’s the only rational thing a person should say when presented with the views of an individual sportsman: so what?
The reaction to these comments, however, proved that too many of today’s Britons aren’t capable of asking facetious questions. Besides name-calling, Fury, who was also recently stripped of his IBF title because he backtracked on a mandatory fight with challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov, came under the scrutiny of the Greater Manchester Police for another set of comments he made. This time around, Fury told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire, “I’m not sexist. I believe a woman’s best place is in the kitchen and on her back. That’s my belief.” Again, Fury may not be a charmer, but he’s a good fighter with the right to his own opinions. Apparently, some BBC listeners didn’t think so. Fury’s comments netted the boxer a “hate incident” investigation. Thankfully, the police called off the social justice dogs and let the lad be.
While Fury’s case is a victory, not everyone can succeed. The stupidity of hate speech laws means that almost anyone can be accused, thus sparking a much unwanted investigation. I say “almost anyone” because hate crime or hate incident cases that involve language tend to have a pale-skinned and Y chromosome bias. Of these poor unfortunates, most are politically right-of-center. Take for instance Paul Joseph Watson, an infowars.com writer who fancies himself a classical liberal. Recently, Mr. Watson, who likes to make confrontational, yet highly informed videos about everything from Black Lives Matter to the current state of marriage, crossed the Rubicon and dared to strike at the heart of one of the left’s most prized shibboleths: He said that Islam is not a “religion of peace.” In contemporary Britain, that is something that just can’t be said, apparently.
Within no time, Twitter users began threatening Watson with hate speech allegations, with some even claiming that they had already reported him to the police. As of this writing, Paul Joseph Watson is still a free man, but only the Shadow knows if he’ll find himself either in front of a jury or exiled from social media.
Watson, like Fury, is a northerner with a broad, tough guy brogue. These people aren’t known for breaking easily, and right now their England, North America, and Europe are teetering near the precipice. As the teflon Donald and the recent elections in Sweden, Poland and elsewhere have shown, the Western body politic is threatening a wholesale move rightward. This has the left terrified. Although they disdain physical conflict, the left still has enough power as a bully leviathan to make life hard for Fury, Watson, and people like them. Hopefully all of this hate crime silliness over a video and a few comments represents the final uncoordinated jabs of a dying tyrant, but until the day comes when the words “I believe in free speech, but” will be laughed at by all level-headed people, the modern left will still be in the fight.
Benjamin Welton is a writer in Boston.
