Donald
"Don" King (born December 6, 1931),
is a successful American boxing promoter particularly
known for his hairstyle and flamboyant personality.
Biography
Early
life
Prior
to entering the world of boxing, King lived in
Cleveland, Ohio. After dropping out of Case Western
Reserve University, he ran an illegal bookmaking
operation, and was charged for killing two men
(two separate incidents 13 years apart). The first
was determined to be justifiable homicide, but
King was convicted of manslaughter for the second
killing, for which he served just under four years
in prison.
Career
as a boxing promoter
King
entered the boxing world in his hometown of Cleveland.
After convincing Muhammad Ali to box a charity
exhibition for a local hospital, with the help
of singer Lloyd Price, King began one of history's
most successful careers in boxing promotion. King
had access to investors, whose money he would
need to cover expenses, but he was inexperienced
in the fight game. Don Elbaum, who already had
a stable of fighters in Cleveland and years of
experience in boxing, agreed to form a partnership
with King.
In
1974, King negotiated to promote a heavyweight
championship fight between Muhammad Ali and George
Foreman in (DR Congo)Zaire, popularly known as
"The Rumble in the Jungle." 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 Zaire government.
King
solidified his position as one of boxing's preeminent
promoters the following year with the third fight
between Ali and Joe Frazier in Manila, the capital
of the Philippines, which King deemed the "Thrilla
In Manila." 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 like Larry Holmes,
Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, Salvador Sanchez,
Wilfredo Gómez, and Alexis Arguello 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 Lopez, Felix
Trinidad, Terry Norris, Carlos Zarate, Azumah
Nelson, Andrzej Golota, Mike McCallum, and Meldrick
Taylor are some of the boxers who chose King to
promote many of their biggest fights.
Outside
of boxing, he also managed the Jacksons' 1984
Victory Tour.
Popular culture
King
has become a prominent figure in the media. He
frequently appears on talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel
and Howard Stern to promote fights. Recently,
he was portrayed by Dave Chappelle in a skit about
a "Gay America," promoting a boxing
match between two homosexual boxers.
In
the third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie,
the emperor emerges from a bell struck by a cannonball
with his hair sticking straight up. Donatello
says, "Hey, look - Don King!" King is
well known for his hairstyle. In a 1993 interview
with Jet magazine, King said that he uses Aqua
Net hairspray and a comb to style his coif every
day.
A
1996 episode of The Simpsons featured a boxing
promoter named Lucius Sweet, described by Homer
Simpson as being "exactly as rich and as
famous as Don King and he looks just like him
too!"
The
character of flashy boxing promoter George Washington
Duke, played by Richard Gant in the film Rocky
V, is based on King, even using King's famous
catchphrase "Only in America!" In 1997,
actor Ving Rhames played King in a made for TV
movie, Don King: Only in America which aired on
HBO. Rhames won a Golden Globe award for his portrayal
of King. However, at the ceremony, Rhames gave
up his award and presented it to Jack Lemmon,
who was also nominated for his starring role in
a remake of the movie Twelve Angry Men. In a 1998
episode of South Park, titled "Damien",
Jesus and Satan are to have a boxing match to
decide the conflict between good and evil, and
Don King represents Satan.
King
had a brief cameo as himself in the 1997 movie
The Devil's Advocate. He is politically active;
he made media appearances promoting George W.
Bush during the 2004 U.S. presidential election,
which included attendance at the Republican National
Convention in New York. In the episode "My
Brother's Keeper" of The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air, Carlton is portrayed as Don King in one
of Will's dreams. On an episode of Boy Meets World,
Cory is having really bad hair problems, and his
hair is similar to Don King's. One kid even made
fun of Cory by saying, "Hey look, it's Don
King." In Celebrity Deathmatch, Don King's
death was a running gag during the series' first
season. In the final episode of the second season,
he was matched against Donald Trump, with King
being killed again, this time in the ring.
An
episode of 'Operation Good Guys' contained one
character promoting a fight and parodying Don
King. A popular joke, "Your armpits are so
hairy it looks like you put Don King in a headlock".
(Credit:
Wikipedia).
