During the Saúl Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan press conference in New York City yesterday, Oscar De La Hoya went on record stating that he “gave all the credit to [Donald] Trump” for making the Álvarez-Khan fight happen.
At first glance, the statement might come off as strange, but not if you put it into context. “You know, I was watching the debate on CNN, with Trump and everybody on the panel, and I instantly thought ‘you know what, Amir Khan vs. Canelo Alvarez.’ I give all the credit to Trump,” responded the Golden Boy after being asked whose idea it was to make this fight happen. Although the former boxing champ did not explicitly say so, the idea probably emerged after listening to Donald Trump’s anti-Mexican and Islamophobic rhetoric.
After watching the debate, De La Hoya asked Khan what he thought about the potential fight on Twitter. The Englishman responded with plenty of willingness and enthusiasm.
Perhaps because of the power of Trump’s hateful discourse, the World Boxing Council (WBC) and Golden Boy Promotions decided to get Pope Francis involved in the fight. The Argentine leader of the Catholic Church gifted the boxing organization an olive tree, which will be planted outside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He also named Canelo and Khan peace ambassadors.
De La Hoya’s decision to put the most popular Mexican and English boxers in the same ring is not only business savvy, but it is also a subtle way to tell the most bigoted figure in mainstream politics to fuck off.