George Zimmerman won’t be fighting rapper DMX in a celebrity boxing match after all.
Promoter Damon Feldman has pulled the plug on the bout that was scheduled for March 1.
Feldman made the announcement in a series of tweets today. The general public seemed to be opposed to the matchup as well. Thousands had already signed a Facebook petition on a page called “Cancel George Zimmerman’s Celebrity Boxing Match.”
For his physical well-being, Zimmerman may have lucked out bigtime with the cancellation, based on what DMX was saying. DMX (Earl Simmons) said of the three-round bout to raise money for charity, “I am going to beat the living f**k out of him. I am breaking every rule in boxing to make sure I f**k him up right.” DMX was reportedly selected to step in the ring with Zimmerman from 15,000 applicants.
You may recall from the George Zimmerman murder trial in which he was charged in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin that his then-personal trainer dissed and dismissed Zimmerman’s fighting skills, although the former neighborhood watchman apparently started training again.
Feldman considered his promotion the WWE of boxing, leading to speculation that the George Zimmerman-DMX fight was going to be fixed or rigged for entertainment value. According to Deadspin , “The chances of this fight happening were only slightly better than it being on the level if it ever did happen.”
Are you happy or sad — or don’t care — that the George Zimmerman-DMX celebrity boxing match has been canceled?
The George Zimmerman fight is canceled I’m sorry for anyone I hurt with this but this was a very big opportunity thank you
— Damon Feldman (@hollywoodbox11) February 8, 2014
I want to thank everyone for the good n bad comments I’ve made the choice to cancel the fight w George Zimmermann more to life then money
— Damon Feldman (@hollywoodbox11) February 8, 2014
It was my decision to cancel the george zimmerman fight it was worth a lot of money to me but people’s feelings meant more to me
— Damon Feldman (@hollywoodbox11) February 8, 2014