Don King, boxing's biggest promoter with the biggest hair, rose to fame after staging the
"Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila."
And after years spent working with the industry's heaviest hitters, King became as well-known
as some of his clients, even inspiring movie characters.
"Gentlemen whoa whoa we're getting carried away"
It's been a while since we've heard King shout "Only in America."
Between multiple lawsuits, two cases of homicide, and a sullied reputation, King hasn't been
in the spotlight as much lately.
"I've been relatively quiet, you must admit."
Here's how Don King has been keeping busy.
During the glory days of Mike Tyson, Don King
was always at his side, but Tyson eventually discovered King was always in his pockets,
too.
In 1998, Tyson sued King for $100 million, claiming that King had been skimming money
off the fighter's purses for years.
Tyson also alleged that King made him sign contracts while he was still in jail, never
giving him the opportunity to seek a lawyer's advice on the matter.
"Then I got caught up with piece of s--- Don King, who's just a wretched...a wretched,
slimy, reptilian motherf-----."
In 2004, they reached a settlement.
Tyson dropped his $100 million suit in exchange for a $14 million payment from King.
It wasn't much of a victory for Tyson since all of the money had to go toward settling
his massive debt to creditors, the IRS, and his ex-wife.
But the two have since been able to share a room without much spectacle, so at least
there's that.
Don King's criminal record might not reflect
it, but he's been responsible for at least two people's untimely demises.
King shot a man who was trying to rob one of his gambling houses in 1954, but it was
ruled a "justifiable homicide," and he got off scot-free.
The second incident took place 13 years later, when he curbstomped an employee into an early
grave because he owed him $600.
King was convicted of non-negligent manslaughter, and he served four years in prison.
His record was later expunged because Governor Jim Rhodes pardoned the crime in 1984.
Ohio had so completely forgiven him that the city of Cleveland would name a street in King's
honor.
In fact, the very same street where one of those bodies was found was proposed to become
"Don King Way."
"If you stomp a guy to death I don't think you should get a street named after you."
However, the city council was split over the idea, and after a lot of bad press, decided
to keep King's name off of the former crime scene.
It's been a while since King's represented
any top-level talent.
So when he got the opportunity to pitch himself to the Ukrainian boxing duo the Klitschko
Brothers, he pulled out all the stops.
The documentary Klitschko shows the brothers' first meeting with King, just after Wladimir
won a gold medal in 1996.
In the video, King sweet talks the two, clearly trying to get them to sign a possibly unfavorable
contract…
"I'm gonna make sure he gets taken care of because I'm the money that comes off is about
making money" To prove that King's a serious person and
an artist more than a businessman, he sits down at his piano and begins to play.
At first, it's pretty impressive, until the Klitschkos realize that it's a player piano
and King is faking the whole thing.
King's choice to put on his little player piano show did not please the brothers, so
they left and never went back, stymying King's chance of representing the next heavyweight
champions.
Though King's name is divisive for many reasons,
his work within the field of boxing is still pretty legendary.
So, in 2013, he was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.
Former clients Mike Tyson and Larry Holmes were in the same class of inductees, though
both had previously sued King for stealing their money.
It's not too surprising that the Hall of Fame was willing to look beyond King's checkered
past and celebrate his positive contributions to the industry, however, considering some
of the other inductees' criminal histories.
King may not be promoting the big names of
boxing anymore, but that doesn't mean he's out of the game.
King still shows up to fights with the men in his stable, though the fights are a lot
smaller.
King will wave his 17 flags, shout his catch phrases, then scoot out the backdoor when
his guy loses.
The once-bustling Don King Productions now resides in a simple building in Florida that
serves as a museum to his past triumphs and few signs of future success.
One of his biggest clients, Eric Molina, only made $250,000 on his WBC heavyweight championship
fight, a far cry from the millions King used to rake in for his top-level clientele.
But the man has caused hype, excitement, and controversy to the world of boxing for years.
Boxing has left him behind, but he still clings to his persona to get some final moments in
the spotlight.
"I ain't asking you to love me, JUST RESPECT ME!"
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