World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman told a New York crowd on hand for a promotional press conference that “peace and inclusion” will be the theme of the middleweight fight when Amir Khan, a Muslim from England, fights Canelo Alvarez, a Catholic from Mexico, on Cinco de Mayo Weekend in Las Vegas. It's a contrasting tone to some of the discourse heard from a leading presidential candidate eight months before the general election.
During the Saúl Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan press conference in New York City,
Oscar De La Hoya went on record stating that he “gave all the credit to [Donald] Trump” for making the Álvarez-Khan fight happen.
Trump has not exactly stood for the peace and inclusion that Sulaiman and De La Hoya have been promoting. Over the course of his campaign, Trump has called for measures that would limit the number of Mexicans and Muslims that would be able to enter the country.
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.
“We have Catholic and Muslim fighters coming together," Sulaiman said. "We will plant an olive tree near the Arena as a symbol of the peace and unity that the world needs.”
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