A 2014 interview resurfaced this week from DMX, the 50-year-old rapper who died Friday, in which he threatened to "beat the living f***" out of George Zimmerman, the Florida man who was found not guilty in the 2012 shooting death of Black teenager Trayvon Martin.
Numerous video clips and quotations from throughout the career of DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, have emerged this week after he passed away in a Mount Vernon, New York, hospital from complications tied to a drug overdose and heart attack.
One of DMX's more prominent resurfaced remarks dates back to his widely promoted—but ultimately canceled—March 2014 boxing match with Zimmerman. Speaking to TMZ just days before the match and one year after Zimmerman was acquitted, DMX's inflammatory vow prompted the promoters to cancel the match.
DMX, who won promoter Damon Feldman's open bid to fight the ex-Florida neighborhood watchman, told TMZ that boxing was his hobby and that Zimmerman wouldn't stand a chance against him in the ring.
"I am going to beat the living f*** out of him," DMX told the celebrity gossip website just days before the scheduled event. "I am breaking every rule in boxing to make sure I f*** him right up."
DMX publicist Domenick Nati, however, told Rolling Stone magazine after the event was canceled that the rapper had never formally agreed to box Zimmerman.
"As previously stated, DMX never agreed to the fight and we thank you for all of the support from DMX's fans. This situation will not affect any of DMX's upcoming concerts in America or around the world," Nati said at the time.
The much-hyped event had drawn controversy from many who saw it as a downplay of the fact someone had lost their life in the saga two years before: Trayvon Martin. On April 11, 2012, Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of the 17-year-old, who was killed as he returned home from purchasing Skittles at a 7-Eleven.
"Zimmerman was the wrong person to have in this," Feldman told Rolling Stone in 2014, elaborating on his decision to cancel the fight. "I looked into the eyes of my son and daughter today and couldn't imagine someone killing them and getting off scot-free. It just really hurt. It was a tough decision because I could have made two million dollars here, but at least I have my dignity. I'm happy. Thank you."
During the widely covered 2013 trial, Zimmerman's defense team said their client shot Martin in self-defense and a jury ultimately rendered a not-guilty verdict in July 2013 on all counts, including second-degree murder. The outcome prompted widespread criticism and set off racial criminal justice debates that continue eight years later.
Newsweek reached out to representatives for DMX for any additional details about the 2014 fight that never happened.
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