‘The Artist’ formerly known as George Zimmerman is (nearly) slated to box in a celebrity match with rapper DMX. Zimmerman, who subsists on a mixture of oxygen and publicity may be in over his head this time. In January, Zimmerman announced publicly he would take on anyone in a celebrity bout, and that he has been training for months. The ringmaster is ‘Celebrity Boxing’ promoter, and self-described opportunist Damon Feldman, who specializes in bizarre match-ups. Tonya Harding and Michael Lohan are two of Feldman’s fighting celebs.
When the three-round pay-per-view event was announced, 8,000 people emailed within one hour hoping for the opportunity to punch George Zimmerman. Rapper DMX was selected from the final field of over 15,000 who requested the opportunity to box Zimmerman’s ears. Apparently not everyone heard the invitation.
Zimmerman claims the match was his idea because boxing has long been his hobby.
“Prior to the incident, I was actually going to the gym for weight loss and doing boxing-type training for weight loss,” he told Radar, via CNN.
The “incident” is of course, the cowardly February 2012 encounter in which the gun nut shot 17-year-old unarmed Trayvon Martin dead. He stood trial for murder and was acquitted last year.
All of this boxing talk begs the question; why was the heavier, more experienced boxer George Zimmerman, unable to subdue an inexperienced teenager without the use of deadly force? This assumes it was the business of the cop wanna-be to interfere with Martin in the first place.
We won’t know whether the match is truly on until March 15. In highly emphatic vernacular,DMX has promised to make it a memorable match for Zimmerman, and is unworried by the age differential. DMZ is 43 and Zimmerman is 30. A spokesman said no contract of paperwork has been signed or agreed to yet.
Change.org may give Zimmerman a face-saving ‘out’ with a petition they’re circulating in hopes of stopping the match. To them I say Stop! As a peaceful warrior, normally I would agree with Reverend Al Sharpton who, along with Trayvon Martin’s parents and others decry the match. The Reverend does make a good point about celebrity, especially when speaking of Zimmerman.
“We must be very careful not to glorify or in any way sidestep the implications of making someone whose only claim to fame was killing an unarmed, young man named Trayvon Martin into a cultural celebrity or hero,” Sharpton said.
In Zimmerman’s case, I’m more inclined to agree with Ian Karmel, a writer for “Chelsea Lately,” who has a better idea. “They should send Floyd Mayweather to the ring and tell George Zimmerman it’s DMX,” he tweeted. “He won’t know the difference.”