Left: Progressive Slovakia MP and former boxer David Dej, Republika MEP Milan Mazurek. (source: Instagram David Dej/Instagram Milan Mazurek)
In recent weeks, Progressive Slovakia (PS) MP and former boxer David Dej and far-right Republika MEP Milan Mazurek have been exchanging increasingly heated video messages online. But earlier this week, tensions took an unexpected turn when Dej issued a public challenge: a boxing match under standard sporting rules.
Mazurek accepted and, in return, called for a public debate on whether it is better to be a progressive or a patriot. However, following public criticism, Dej withdrew his offer, saying the challenge had been misunderstood and interpreted as an incitement to violence rather than a sporting gesture.
Republika's MEP seized on the retraction as an opportunity to accuse Progressive Slovakia of bringing violence into politics.
A match that never was
Dávid Dej, 28, is known for his political commentary on Instagram, often responding directly to statements made by politicians. In early May, he posted a video replying to Mazurek’s remark that "SJWs call him an intolerant carnivore".
"Miňo," Dej said, using a diminutive of Mazurek’s first name, Marián, "nobody minds you eating meat or being intolerant because of it. The issue is that you're a Nazi who once wanted to throw cobblestones and then went and ate a kebab like a true hypocrite."
This is a reference to an anti-immigration protest in 2015 at Bratislava's main railway station, where Mazurek verbally attacked passers-by and was reportedly part of a group that threw stones at a family with children. He was later spotted at a kebab shop.
Mazurek responded with a series of disparaging videos, referring to Dej as a "creature" and mocked him with insults often used by the far-right to target trans people. "In the morning he's a man, in the evening a woman, in the afternoon a helicopter or a crocodile," Mazurek said.
On Monday May 19, Dej escalated matters with a public challenge to a boxing match. "A strong man and athlete like you shouldn't be afraid of a liberal," he declared. Mazurek accepted two days later, despite claiming that many had advised him against it, citing Dej's greater height, weight, and his years of competitive boxing experience in the Czech Republic.
By Thursday, however, Dej had withdrawn the challenge. "I see that people didn't interpret this as a sporting event, but as a fight — something I don't want to support," he said, adding that he remained open to a public debate instead.
A strategy that backfired once
Talking to the daily Sme, Dej said the idea had been entirely his own and not coordinated with his party. He admitted that, in hindsight, he would have approached the situation differently. When asked whether PS had intervened, he insisted that withdrawing the challenge had been his decision alone.
When Sme queried the party about whether such disputes should be resolved through boxing — particularly when one side has a clear physical advantage — Progressive Slovakia responded by endorsing Dej's decision to retract the challenge.
Nevertheless, Sme noted that several PS MPs had liked the video in which Dej extended the invitation to fight.
The incident echoes one of several missteps from 2020 that caused PS to fail to cross the parliamentary threshold. At the time, their campaign slogan — "Let's get them!" — was criticised for inciting violence and was interpreted by opponents as a call to physically confront members of the extremist ĽSNS, then party Mazurek belonged to.
Other political parties used the slogan to question PS's methods, asking whether the party endorsed violence as a means of opposing extremists.
On Friday, Mazurek used the situation, declaring that "violence has no place in politics" — and accusing Progressive Slovakia of now seeking to introduce it. He reiterated his willingness to take part in a public debate.
