No, Barack Obama is not in talks to call a boxing match like Donald Trump
Former President Barack Obama isn’t going to follow former President Donald Trump’s lead and call a boxing match.
Despite claims to the contrary from Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh, an Obama Foundation spokeswoman said that the foundation hasn’t spoken with the boxing company about Obama potentially commentating on a future boxing match at all. Any idea that he is in talks to do so, she told The New York Times, is “inaccurate."
An Obama Foundation spokeswoman says the Foundation has not spoken with Ryan Kavanaugh and the idea that Barack Obama is in talks to commentate a boxing match is “inaccurate.” https://t.co/5vRSfakrH2
— Kevin Draper (@kevinmdraper) September 10, 2021
Kavanaugh had told ESPN that he was in talks with the former president’s foundation about having him speak on an alternate stream during Teofimo Lopez’s bout with George Kambosos next month in New York — something Trump is planning to do Saturday on the anniversary of 9/11.
As Obama’s foundation denied any talks had ever taken place, however, so it’s not clear where Kavanaugh’s claims are coming from.
So, at least for now, Trump is the only one getting into boxing.
Donald Trump calling fight on 9/11 anniversary
Trump will be on an alternate Triller stream providing commentary during Evander Holyfield’s return fight against Vitor Belfort on Saturday.
It’s not clear why Trump is getting involved or how long he’s been involved with the event, but Trump confirmed the news in a statement and will be joined by his son, Donald Trump Jr.
“I love great fighters and great fights,” Trump said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing both this Saturday night and sharing my thoughts ringside. You won’t want to miss this special event.”
Trump, who is banned from nearly all social media websites and has made very few public appearances since he left the White House in January, has received plenty of criticism for calling the event on 9/11 — which marks 20 years since the terrorist attacks in 2001.
Trump also said that he wanted to fight current President Joe Biden — who will visit all three sites where planes crashed on Sept. 11, 2001 on Saturday, per CBS News — in a boxing match himself, because “I think he’d go down very, very quickly.”
Regardless, it seems that neither Trump’s predecessor nor his successor wants anything to do with commentating a boxing match on Saturday or anytime in the future. At least for now, both Obama and Biden are letting Trump have that space.
