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ESPN’s Jemele Hill, center. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Americans have often identified sports as iconic and patriotic symbols of Americana.
That’s especially true for America’s pastimes of baseball, NASCAR and football.
And it’s why some sports fans don’t appreciate it when people within the sports world get political — particularly if their politics are viewed as liberal or anti-American.
This week, sports, race and politics clashed in a way that attracted the attention of the White House.
Trump lashed out at ESPN on Friday in a tweet, claiming that the network was “paying a really big price for its politics” after “SportsCenter” host Jemele Hill labeled the president a “white supremacist” Monday. Hill’s remark came in a Twitter conversation about an article about musician and potential U.S. Senate candidate Kid Rock’s frustration with being labeled a racist, in part because he favors the Confederate flag.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Hill’s comments constituted “a fireable offense.”
NFL free agent Colin Kaepernick, who gained national attention for protesting racism during the national anthem at football games, tweeted his support for Hill the day after her tweets.
Kaepernick has previously called Trump “openly racist.” He felt the ire of Trump several times, and the president has taken credit for keeping the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback out of a job.
“It was reported that NFL owners don’t want to pick him up because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump,” Trump said at a March rally in Louisville.
Also this week, a group of anti-racism protesters hung a banner over the Green Monster at Fenway Park that read “Racism is as American as baseball,” which remained in place for a few minutes before being removed by stadium security.
“We are a group of white anti-racist protesters,” the fans said in a statement. “We want to remind everyone that just as baseball is fundamental to American culture and history, so too is racism.”
Not all commentary from the sports world this week was in opposition to Trump. Former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry did not approve of Hill’s comments.
“I think no one should call anyone anything,” said the former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant. “President Trump, he’s a great man to me. He was always gracious to me.
“I never want to sit and point fingers at someone like the president of the United States,” Strawberry added. “He’s got a job to do, and we all need to pray for him, and we all need to support him, that’s what we need to do.”
Hill said she doesn’t have the luxury of being silent when it comes to political matters about race.
“I have to talk myself out of sending certain tweets several times a day,” Hill said at a Sports Illustrated event in August. “When you’re under the leadership of a president that refuses to condemn Nazis and racism, how am I supposed to function the rest of the day and pretend as if I give a s— about Blake Bortles losing his job?”
Many sports fans look to ESPN and the games they air for a respite from more difficult topics, and that desire accounts for their frustration with Hill. They don’t look to the network to hear people opine about systemic racism.
“I know there are sports fans looking for me to provide them with an ‘escape,’ but as a woman and person of color, I have no escape from the fact that there are people in charge who seem to be either sickened by my existence or are intent on erasing my dignity in every possible way,” Hill said at the SI event
Activism in politics isn’t a new phenomenon among athletes and the journalists and personalities who cover them, especially when it comes to addressing the topic of race. But using their platforms to talk about politics and race seems to be increasingly common since the election of former president Barack Obama.
Athletes including NBA stars LeBron James, Vince Carter and Grant Hill became more vocal in politics when they supported Obama’s first campaign.
Going into Obama’s reelection, Dallas Mavericks small forward Harrison Barnes said Obama inspired him to speak out on political matters.
“I want to be part of change,” he told The Post in 2012. “When I was young, I wasn’t really into politics much, but now that I am in the NBA I have a platform to speak on. I want to get involved and I want to help people.”
NBA legend Michael Jordan, who was criticized throughout his career for not speaking out on political issues impacting black Americans, finally got involved in politics during the Obama administration.
In addition to participating in a fundraiser for the first black president, he co-headlined a $20,000-a-plate dinner after it. And later in Obama’s administration, Jordan spoke out against the relationship between police and minority communities.
Hill predicted Obama’s influence on athletes nearly nine years ago, days after Obama was first elected in 2008.
“Having a president that looks like them seems to have inspired black athletes to be more vocal, and sparked a sense of solidarity that hasn’t been seen since the civil rights movement,” Hill wrote. “It was difficult not to notice how Obama’s rise to the White House struck an emotional chord with African Americans — especially in the sports world.”
The increased activism in the sports world that Hill and others promised would come with the advent of Obama’s presidency didn’t die when he left the White House. If anything, with how all-encompassing the Donald Trump political campaign was and the presidency has been, talking about politics and policy may be the new locker room talk.
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Joseph Diaz vs. Rafael Rivera
Round 11: Rivera is throwing a lot of desperation shots in this round — huge overhands and hooks that aren’t landing and aren’t really coming close to landing. Diaz keeps up more of the same and we’re going to a 12th round.
Round 10: The referee tells Rivera he’s taking too much punishment. Diaz is throwing with a lot more heat in this round. He wants to finish this fight, but I’m not sure he can do it. Rivera is showing a lot of damage, but no one punch is hurting him badly.
Round 9: Rivera is much, much slower now. He eats some big hooks. He’s letting his guard down more, but Diaz is still landing with regularity. Rivera comes forward with a wild combo near the end of the round, but Diaz avoids it easily.
Round 8: Rivera can’t get anything done. He has nothing to offer Diaz, who is punching plenty but doing no real damage. He tries to work the body some, but doesn’t have the power to really hurt Rivera at this pace.
Round 7: Rivera connects with a nice right hook early in the round, but Diaz pushes forward with a three-four punch combo. Good left hand from Diaz, and he misses with a big uppercut. Another round of the same. Rivera hasn’t won one and Diaz isn’t slowing down.
Round 6: Diaz is more aggressive in this round, opening up Rivera with a strong jab. He lands some big body shots, and it’s another round for him.
Round 5: Rivera is trying very hard to stay in this, but Diaz is picking him apart with counters. Not much happens in this round — just more of the same from Diaz, controlling the fight.
Round 4: Rivera wings two massive, wild hooks near the end of this round that just miss. Diaz, though, continues with his precision striking. He picks Rivera apart with beautiful counter hooks, and lands a big uppercut near the end of the round.
Round 3: Rivera misses with a big right hook and eats a straight left. Diaz works a huge body combo. Rivera tries to come forward more in this round, but Diaz’s countering is too strong. He does eat a big left hook though, late in the round.
Round 2: It’s more of the same in this round. They’re both active, but Diaz’s shots are just more polished, more refined. He’s connecting a lot more and Rivera is backing up.
Round 1: Diaz lands a hard left to the body, and then just backs away from the big counter. Rivera eats a right hook while jumping in for another shot. Diaz lands the best shots of this round.
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Canelo Álvarez and Gennady Golovkin are two of the best boxers of this generation, and while the fight is happening later than most wanted, they’re both still in incredible shape going into Saturday’s fight card.
The HBO pay-per-view event will see Álvarez, a 49-1-1 boxer with his only loss being to Floyd Mayweather Jr., going up against Golovkin, popularly known as “GGG,” who is 37-0 with 33 knockouts over the course of his career.
It’s the actual biggest boxing match of the year, a lot bigger than Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, primarily because the people involved in Saturday’s card are both among the best in the sport.
The pay-per-view card features four bouts, the fight of which is a lightweight contest between Ryan Martin and Francisco Rojo. Then, super bantamweights Diego De La Hoya, cousin of Oscar De La Hoya, will face Randy Caballero. Finally, the co-feature will see Joseph Diaz up against Rafael Rivera in a featherweight contest.
We’ll have live round-by-round coverage of the full pay-per-view card. The current match and round will always be at the top of this article, with past rounds and bouts recapped below.
Diego De La Hoya def. Randy Caballero via unanimous decision (100-90, 98-92, 98-92)
Round 1: De La Hoya and Caballero both rush to the center of the ring, and begin firing from range. Both do a good job keeping out of the way of early shots. Caballero eats a short left hand and nearly falls, but it’s a trip more than anything. De La Hoya lands some short shots throughout the round, but it’s just a warmup for both.
Round 2: Caballero trips again early in the round. He also eats a huge right hook right on the jaw, and after they clinch up, he eats a body shot and an uppercut. He lands a bodyshot of his own. They clinch up multiple times and Robert Byrd is having none of that. He warns both. De La Hoya throws a big combo that is punctuated by a huge right hook that just glances off Caballero. It’s De La Hoya’s round.
Round 3: Caballero keeps coming forward, but every combo he throws is met with a more fierce combo from De La Hoya. This is a competitive round though, and Caballero is landing some nice body shots. Still, De La Hoya controls it for the most part.
Round 4: These two are really going at it, especially De La Hoya. He connects with some big body shots and a couple hooks. But about halfway through the round, Caballero starts landing more. Twice he connects with a short left hook that stuns De La Hoya. De La Hoya will need to adjust his timing or he’s going to eat a shot he can’t take.
Round 5: Good body shot from Caballero. Another one, and he eats a left hook over the top. They clinch, and are separated. They clinch several times. De La Hoya lands a brutal body shot late in the round and Caballero backs up into the ropes. He clinches up though, and gets some time to recover. The round, De La Hoya’s, comes to an end.
Round 6: De La Hoya lands three huge uppercuts to the body in a row, and avoids the big overhand counter from Caballero. Big body shot from Caballero. It’s a slower round, pretty evenly matched.
Round 7: They are both keeping their heads very low and firing off uppercuts and short hooks. They exchange plenty of shots this way, and clinch up way too often to accomplish anything of significant. This one has slowed down considerably. De La Hoya throws a nice combo but for every four or five shots thrown, only one lands. He does hit Caballero hard with a low shot that might have been a little too low. The referee didn’t see it though.
Round 8: There’s some big swelling under the left eye of Caballero. Caballero lands a nice body shot followed by a right straight to the face. They clinch plenty and continue the same fight they’ve been fighting. De La Hoya explodes in the final 20 seconds and lands a good couple shots. Its a close fight, but one that De La Hoya is controlling.
Round 9: Caballero really begins to slow down in this round, and De La Hoya starts picking him apart. De La Hoya lands over and over and Caballero’s corner is very frustrated.
Round 10: Caballero comes out looking desperate, but he can’t land on De La Hoya’s face. De La Hoya backs up a lot more in the round, but he’s landing counters while he does it. He knows he’s ahead on the cards and he lasts to the end.
Ryan Martin def. Francisco Rojo via split decision (91-98, 96-93, 95-94)
Round 1: The first minute is spent with both competitors right in the pocket, but nothing big thrown. Both paw forward with jabs into the guard of their opponent, nothing sneaking through. Rojo lands two significant body shots, But Martin keeps his hands high. Nothing big lands in the round — Rojo threw and landed more shots.
Round 2: Martin is much more active early in this round, landing a couple stiff jabs. He eats another big body shot, and lands a nice straight left as Rojo misses with a hook. Rojo does land some more body shots, but ultimately eats plenty of straights throughout the round.
Round 3: Rojo again lands some nice body shots in the round. Martin is going to have some trouble later if he can’t start avoiding these body shots. Martin does respond with a pair of hooks that land flush on the jaw. But Rojo keeps walking forward. Big left straight from Martin, and he eats another right to the body. Nice overhand right from Rojo near the end of the round.
Round 4: Martin is probably losing this fight — or at least he should be. He needs to make some changes because it’s hard to imagine him speeding up later in the match after absorbing those body shots. Martin continues to throw multi-straight combos that don’t really make it through Rojo’s guard. Rojo gets Martin up against the ropes and unloads a couple big combos, peppering Martin with body shots but landing nothing up high. Martin comes back out swinging, connecting with a nice uppercut. But Rojo keeps coming forward. Rojo does eat two straight lefts flush.
Round 5: Martin is backing up a lot more in this round. Rojo wings a wild hook that Martin blocks. He also just avoids a counter left hook from Martin. Martin gets backed up against the ropes again and eats a couple big shots. Both boxers are looking a little bit tired halfway through this fight.
Round 6: Rojo continues with the aggressive fighting. Martin doesn’t look like he’s getting destroyed by any means, but he’s offering next to nothing in the way of defense. He’s landing his own short shots, but he again eats big body shots, gets pressed against the ropes and eats some big, big shots.
Round 7: Martin lands a nice body shot of his own and a one-two hook combination. Rojo connects with a big body shot of his own. I think Rojo expected Martin to be slowing down a bit more than he has by now. Rojo still continues working the body, landing some big shots. He eats a right hook to the head, but lands another big combo that pushes Martin to the ropes again.
Round 8: Martin is warned for going too low with a hook. When they resume, Martin throws another combo, and is warned again. The referee will take a point away if it happens again. Martin is a lot more active, though, and peppers Rojo’s head with one-two after one-two. It’s a Martin round for sure, one of the first definitive Martin rounds.
Round 9: And Martin loses a point he can ill-afford to lose by going low once again about a minute into the round. Rojo continues coming forward, but Martin is fighting with some urgency now. A competitive round ensues, one that Martin likely won with his aggression, but the point is going to hurt him.
Round 10: Martin controls the pace of the round early, throwing heavy with his left hook and straight right. Rojo, though, comes on strong near the end of the round. He gets Martin pressed against the ropes again and fires heavy body shots. It’s probably Rojo’s fight.
Canelo vs. Golovkin full fight card
PPV Main Card
Middleweight: Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin
Featherweight: Joseph Diaz vs. Rafael Rivera
Super Bantamweight: Diego De La Hoya def. Randy Caballero via unanimous decision (100-90, 98-92, 98-92)
Lightweight: Ryan Martin def. Francisco Rojo via split decision (91-98, 96-93, 95-94)
Non-PPV Undercard
Super Lightweight: Vergil Ortiz def. Cesar Valenzuela via KO in Round 2
Welterweight: Serhii Bohachuk def. Joan Valenzuela via TKO in Round 2
Flyweight: Marlen Esparza def. Aracely Palacios via unanimous decision
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