Don King | |
|---|---|
 King speaking atFreedomFest in July 2016 | |
| Born | (1931-08-20)August 20, 1931 (age 93) |
| Occupation | Boxing promoter |
| Years active | 1952–present |
| Known for | "The Thrilla in Manila", "The Rumble in the Jungle" |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | donking |
Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an Americanboxingpromoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups.
King's career highlights include, among multiple other enterprises, promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila". King has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, includingMuhammad Ali,Joe Frazier,George Foreman,Larry Holmes,Tomasz Adamek,Roberto Duran,Mike Tyson,Evander Holyfield,Chris Byrd,John Ruiz,Julio César Chávez,Ricardo Mayorga,Andrew Golota,Bernard Hopkins,Félix Trinidad,Roy Jones Jr.,Azumah Nelson,Gerald McClellan,Marco Antonio Barrera,Salvador Sanchez,Wilfred Benitez,Wilfredo Gomez andChristy Martin. Some of these boxers sued him for allegedly defrauding them. Mike Tyson was quoted as saying, "He did more bad to black fighters than any white promoter ever in the history of boxing."[1]
King has been charged with killing two people in incidents 13 years apart. In 1954, King shot a man in the back after spotting him trying to rob one of his gambling houses; this incident was ruled ajustifiable homicide.[2][1][3] In 1967, King was convicted ofvoluntary manslaughter for stomping one of his employees to death because he owed him $600.[4] For this, he served three years and eleven months in prison.[5][6]
King was born inCleveland, Ohio, as the fifth of six children to Clarence and Hattie King.[1][7] Clarence worked at the Otis Steel plant owned by theJones & Laughlin company and was killed in a workplace accident on December 7, 1941, when aladle exploded and engulfed him in molten steel. Hattie received $10,000 (equivalent to $213,778 in 2024) in compensation and relocated the family to the middle-classMount Pleasant neighborhood. His mother made a living selling peanuts and homemade pies, helped by King and his younger sister and sold the wares at a local "policy house" that used the guise of aconcession stand to run anumbers game. King and his older brothers all eventually became involved in the betting scheme, with King later stating "So now what we did is we capitalized off of this here, and wehustled. It wasstatutorily illegal, but who knew about the statutes?"[8][9] King graduated fromJohn Adams High in 1951 and briefly attendedKent State University before dropping out.[10]
Beginning in 1951, King ran an illegalbookmaking operation out of the basement of a record store onKinsman Road, earning the byname "The Kid", as well as the nicknames "Kingpin" and "the Numbers Czar".[9][11][12] During this time, King was charged with killing two men in incidents 13 years apart. On December 2, 1954, King fatally shot Hillary Brown in the back while he and two accomplices were attempting to rob one of King's gambling houses on East 123rd Street. This first killing was determined to bejustifiable homicide.[13][14][15]
On April 20, 1966, King killed an employee, 34-year-old Sam Garrett, in an open street in front of several witnesses, for owing $600 in debt. King beat and kicked Garrett and held a.357 magnum revolver to his head; Garrett never regained consciousness and died of severe head trauma on April 24.[12][16] King claimed self-defense, while the prosecution, supported by witness testimony, including that of arresting police officer Bob Tonne, argued that Garrett was attacked by King, with Garrett's last words being quoted as "Don, I'll pay you the money."[12][17][18] He was convicted ofsecond-degree murder for the second killing in 1967 and sentenced to one-to-twenty years imprisonment.[3][19] While he served his term at theMarion Correctional Institution,[20][21] he began self-education; according to his own words, he read everything in theprison library he could get his hands on.[22]
I learned this here, in the ... penitentiary, in reading everything that I can find my hands on, and didn't living the life that I live before I got to the penitentiary. That gave me an enlightenment on life that "don't get mad, get smart." That's why I want other kids to educate themselves, put it in their brain, they can't take that away.
In 1972 after serving three years and eleven months,[1] King was released when his attorney got the conviction reduced to manslaughter.[12] King was pardoned in 1983 by Ohio GovernorJim Rhodes, with letters fromJesse Jackson,Coretta Scott King,George Voinovich,Art Modell, andGabe Paul, among others, being written in support of King.[6]
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King entered the boxing world after convincingMuhammad Ali to box in a charity exhibition for a local hospital in Cleveland with the help of singerLloyd Price. Early on, he formed a partnership with a local promoter named Don Elbaum, who already had a stable of fighters in Cleveland and years of experience in boxing. In 1974, King negotiated to promote a heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman inZaire, popularly known as "The Rumble in the Jungle".[23] The fight between Ali and Foreman was a much-anticipated event. King's rivals all sought to promote the bout, but King was able to secure the then-record $10 million purse through an arrangement with the government of Zaire.
King arranged Ali's1975 fight against journeyman Chuck Wepner.[24] It is widely believed the fight inspiredSylvester Stallone to write the screenplay forRocky (1976).[25]
King solidified his position as one of boxing's preeminent promoters later that year with the third fight between Ali andJoe Frazier inManila,[26] the capital of thePhilippines, which King deemed the "Thrilla in Manila".[23] Aside from promoting the premier heavyweight fights of the 1970s, King was also busy expanding his boxing empire. Throughout the decade, he compiled an impressive roster of fighters, many of whom would finish their career with Hall of Fame credentials. Fighters includingLarry Holmes,Wilfred Benítez,Roberto Durán,Salvador Sánchez,Wilfredo Gómez, andAlexis Argüello would all fight under the Don King Productions promotional banner in the 1970s.
For the next two decades, King continued to be among boxing's most successful promoters. Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez,Aaron Pryor,Bernard Hopkins,Ricardo López, Félix Trinidad,Terry Norris,Carlos Zárate,Azumah Nelson, Andrew Gołota,Mike McCallum,Gerald McClellan,Meldrick Taylor, Marco Antonio Barrera,Tomasz Adamek,John Ruiz, andRicardo Mayorga are some of the boxers who chose King to promote many of their biggest fights.[27]
Outside of boxing, he was theconcert promoter forThe Jacksons' 1984Victory Tour.[28] In 1998, King purchased a Cleveland-basedweekly newspaper serving the African American community in Ohio, theCall and Post, and as of 2011 continued as its publisher.[29][30]
King was elected to theGaming Hall of Fame in 2008.[31]
In 2023, King was announced as the financier of the Bomaye Fight Club inMajor League Wrestling.[32]
As of 2024, King still promoted world champions and was in talks with Canadian boxing promoter Dan Otter to stage a WBC cruiserweight world title bout sometime that year.[33][34]
Don King's wife, Henrietta, died on December 2, 2010, at the age of 87.[35] They had one biological daughter, Debbie, a son, Eric and adopted son Carl, five grandchildren[citation needed] and three great-grandchildren[citation needed].
King is politically active and supportedBarack Obama in the2008 and2012 presidential elections.[36] During theprevious election, he had made media appearances promotingGeorge W. Bush, which had included attendance at the2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. He also has been a longtime supporter of Donald Trump.[37]
On June 10, 1987, King was made a 'Mason-at-Sight' by "Grand Master" Odes J. Kyle Jr. of the Most Worshipful Prince HallGrand Lodge of Ohio, thereby making him aPrince Hall Freemason.[38][39] In the following year, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane letters degree fromCentral State University inWilberforce, Ohio, by University President Dr. Arthur E. Thomas.[40]
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King has conducted an annualturkey giveaway each Christmas for several years, in which he distributes two thousand free turkeys to needy South Floridians.[41]
In September 2024, King was hospitalized for an unspecified illness that required a blood transfusion.[42] Widespread concern for King's health was prompted by aMike Tyson media interview where he said, "You know, Don is not doing well right now. He's probably close to 100 years old. He's not doing well."[43]
King has been investigated for possible connections withorganized crime. On May 20, 1957, the porch of King's house was bombed and in October of the same year, King was shot in the head and neck with a shotgun by unidentified gunmen, reportedly due to his refusal to pay $200 in monthly protection money to crime bossShondor Birns. In December 1957, King's house was raided by theIRS forevasion of $32,029 (equivalent to $358,513 in 2024) in policy tax.[44] Charges ofblackmail against Birns and five others were ultimately dropped in July 1958 when King declined to testify in court.[11][45] During a 1992Senate investigation, King invoked theFifth Amendment when questioned about his connection to mobsterJohn Gotti.[46] WhenIBF president Robert W. Lee Sr. was indicted for racketeering in 1999, King was not indicted, nor did he testify at Lee's trial, though prosecutors reportedly "called him an unindicted co-conspirator who was the principal beneficiary of Lee's machinations."[47]
King has been involved in many fraud litigation cases with boxers. In 1982, he was sued byMuhammad Ali for underpaying him $1.1 million for a fight withLarry Holmes. King called in an old friend of Ali, Jeremiah Shabazz, and handed him a suitcase containing $50,000 in cash and a letter ending Ali's lawsuit against King. He asked Shabazz to visit Ali (who was in the hospital due to his failing health), get him to sign the letter, and then give Ali the $50,000. Ali signed it. The letter even gave King the right to promote any future Ali fights. According to Shabazz, "Ali was ailing by then and mumbling a lot. I guess he needed the money." Shabazz later regretted helping King. Ali's lawyer cried when he learned that Ali had ended the lawsuit without telling him.[48]
Larry Holmes has alleged that over the course of his career, King cheated him out of $10 million in fight purses, including claiming 25% of his purses as a hidden manager. Holmes says he received only $150,000 of a contracted $500,000 for his fight withKen Norton, and $50,000 of $200,000 for facingEarnie Shavers, and claims King cut his purses for bouts withMuhammad Ali,Randall "Tex" Cobb, andLeon Spinks, underpaying him $2 million, $700,000, and $250,000, respectively. Holmes sued King over the accounting and auditing forthe Gerry Cooney fight, charging that he was underpaid by $2 to $3 million.[49] Holmes sued King after King deducted a $300,000 'finder's fee' from his fight purse againstMike Tyson; Holmes settled for $150,000 and also signed a legal agreement pledging not to give any more negative information about King to reporters.[50]
Tim Witherspoon was threatened with being blackballed if he did not sign exclusive contracts with King and his stepson Carl. Not permitted to have his own lawyer present, he signed four "contracts of servitude" (according toJack Newfield). One was an exclusive promotional contract with Don King, two were managerial contracts with Carl King, identical except one was "for show" that gave Carl King 33% of Witherspoon's purses and the other gave King a 50% share, more than is allowed by many boxing commissions. The fourth contract was completely blank.[51] Other examples include Witherspoon being promised $150,000 for his fight with Larry Holmes but receiving only $52,750. King's son Carl took 50% of Witherspoon's purse, illegal under Nevada rules, and the WBC sanctioning fee was also deducted from his purse.[52] He was forced to train at King's own training camp at Orwell, Ohio, instead ofAli's Deer Lake camp which Ali allowed Witherspoon to use for free. For his fight withGreg Page he received a net amount of $44,460 from his guaranteed purse of $250,000. King had deducted money for training expenses, sparring partners, fight and airplane tickets for his friends and family. Witherspoon was never paid a stipulated $100,000 for his training expenses and instead was billed $150 a day for using King's training camp. Carl King again received 50% of his purse, despite Don King Productions falsely claiming he had only been paid 33%.[53] HBO paid King $1,700,000 for Witherspoon to fightFrank Bruno. Witherspoon got a purse of $500,000 but received only $90,000 after King's deductions. Carl King received $275,000.[54] In 1987, Witherspoon sued King for $25 million in damages. He eventually settled for $1 million out of court.[55]
Former undisputed World Heavyweight Boxing ChampionMike Tyson has described King, his former promoter, as "ruthless", "deplorable", and "greedy".[56] In 1998, Tyson sued King for $100 million, alleging that the boxing promoter had cheated him out of millions over more than a decade.[57] The lawsuit was later settled out of court, with Tyson receiving $14 million.[58]
In 1996,Terry Norris sued King, alleging that King had stolen money from him and conspired with his manager to underpay him for fights. The case went to trial, but King settled out of court for $7.5 million in 2003. King also acceded to Norris's demand that the settlement be made public.[59][60]
In 2005, King launched a $2.5 billion defamation suit against theWalt Disney Pictures–ownedESPN, the makers ofSportsCentury, after a documentary alleged that King had "killed, not once, but twice", threatened to breakLarry Holmes' legs, had a hospital invest in a film that was never made, cheatedMeldrick Taylor out of $1 million, and then threatened to have Taylor killed. Though the documentary repeated many claims that were already made, King said he had now had enough. King's attorney said "It was slanted to show Don in the worst way. It was one-sided from day one, Don is a strong man, but he has been hurt by this."[61] The case was dismissed onsummary judgment with a finding that King could not show "actual malice" from the defendants, and that King had failed to prove that any of the challenged statements were false. The judgment also pointed out that the studio had tried on a number of occasions to interview King for the documentary, but he had declined; while not suggesting that King had a legal obligation to do so, the court sympathized with ESPN's circumstances on those grounds. King appealed the decision and three years later, the Second District Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgment, but disagreed with the original finding that none of the statements were false. In any case, Judge Dorian Damoorgian ruled, "Nothing in the record shows that ESPN purposefully made false statements about King in order to bolster the theme of the program or to inflict harm on King".[62]
In May 2003, King was sued byLennox Lewis, who wanted $385 million from the promoter, claiming King used threats to pull Tyson away from a rematch with Lewis.[63]
In early 2006,Chris Byrd sued Don King for breach of contract, and the two eventually settled out of court under the condition that Byrd would be released from his contract with King.[64]
King appeared in the 2-partMiami Vice episode "Down for the Count" (season 3, episodes 12/13, 1987) as Mr. Cash.
King acted in a small role as more or less himself inThe Last Fight (1982) and in the comedyHead Office (1985). He also had another brief cameo as himself in the filmThe Devil's Advocate (1997). He also appeared in a season 4 episode ofKnight Rider, titled "Redemption of a Champion".
King made an appearance in the documentariesBeyond the Ropes (2008)[65] andKlitschko (2011).
King appeared inMoonlighting episode "Symphony in Knocked Flat" (season 3, episode 3, 1986) as himself & also made a brief cameo to the music videoLiberian Girl byMichael Jackson filmed in April 1989 at A&M Chaplin Stage at A&M Studios in Los Angeles.
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