Paul Dogboe, the father of interim junior featherweight world titleholder Isaac Dogboe, apologized for his insensitive comments toward full titleholder Jessie Magdaleno on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Paul Dogboe told Ghana's Pulse news website, "We hope Magdaleno will not run like a chicken, we hope he makes the weight and comes in with no excuses, because we are ready for him. We are ready to eat him like a chicken. We are focused and our only mission is to devour him, eat the crazy chicken, throw him over the wall of Mexico and present the title to Donald Trump. Magdaleno will run when he sees Isaac."
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies, took exception to Paul Dogboe's comments, especially because while Magdaleno's family is of Mexican heritage, Magdaleno was born in Las Vegas, and he resides in that city.
"I condemn the intolerant rhetoric coming from Isaac Dogboe's father regarding Jessie Magdaleno and advise him to apologize," Arum said.
On Wednesday, Paul Dogboe apologized, telling the Ghana Crusader, "I want to apologize to the Mexicans about throwing Magdaleno over the wall. It was just a comical talk, nothing personal. It was just to wake the Mexicans up to come and watch their champion get beat. I apologize if it was misinterpreted. I was only hyping the show."
Magdaleno and Dogboe are scheduled to meet in a mandatory 122-pound world title fight on April 28 on a Top Rank ESPN card at the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia. The bout was moved to that date on Wednesday when the Jeff Horn-Terence Crawford welterweight title fight due to headline an April 14 card that Magdaleno-Dogboe was supposed to be on was postponed because of an injury to Crawford's right hand.
Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs), a 26-year-old southpaw, will be making his second title defense. Dogboe (18-0, 12 KOs), 23, of Ghana, knocked out Cesar Juarez in the fifth round on Jan. 6 in Accra, Ghana, to claim the vacant interim belt made available while Magdaleno was recovering from a hand injury.