Promoter Cancels Boxing Match Between Zimmerman, DMX
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A controversial celebrity boxing match between rapper DMX and George Zimmerman, the man acquitted in the death of Trayvon Martin, has been called off.
Promoter Daemon Feld announced the cancellation on Saturday and told CNN's "New Day Saturday" that he never meant to hurt anyone's feelings.
"Look, this is an entertainment event. I'm not trying to hurt anybody. This is part of what celebrity boxing is. The biggest fight, the one I've worked for, this opportunity and I'm sorry it had to be this one but it's nothing. I'm not hurting anybody here."
Before it was called off, the proposed three round pay-per-view fight was widely opposed. The Rev. Al Sharpton, among others, spoke out against it publicly.
If it had gone through, the matchup would have taken place on what would been Trayvon Martin's 19th birthday.
Zimmerman said the celebrity boxing match was his idea because boxing was his hobby.
DMX told TMZ.com that he wanted to fight Zimmerman and that he'd like to urinate on Zimmerman's face in the name of "every black person who has been done wrong in the system."
The Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case sparked a nationwide debate about race and self-defense. Zimmerman was accused of racially profiling Martin and said he shot the teen to protect himself.