Just to play devil's advocate, was Don King really this evil garbage?

Entaowed · Feb 2, 2023

Stevie G said: ↑

Good post. KIng ripped off fighters with one hand but gave with the other. Was he any better or worse than a lot of other promoterfs,though?
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He was way worse.
Sometimes he made more money for everyone than most others would have.
But when you combine how frequently he ripped guys off with how much power he had to do so-& freeze out anyone who did not kowtow to his wishes, abuse & thefts...
He was a Monster.

No conscience whatsoever, & again his
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Stevie G · Feb 2, 2023

I've got to admit that I was glad he got a beating in Nassau when he was trying to grab a piece of the action of the sad last fight of Muhammad Ali's.

Pugguy · Feb 2, 2023

Stevie G said: ↑

Good post. KIng ripped off fighters with one hand but gave with the other. Was he any better or worse than a lot of other promoterfs,though?
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Yeah, it's a twofold question Stevie. 1) How bad was King absolute? and 2) How bad was King relative to other promoters? I think he is still the worst given the second consideration. I wouldn't say he "gave" anyone anything - even though that term has been curiously used in earlier posts to frame him as somehow being a benevolent man. Lol. King wouldn't give anyone a dime unless there were many more dimes in it for him. The term "gave" has also been used in reference to King paying what he actually owed to fighters - IF they were lucky even to get the total amount, he did owe them. We also know, conversely, what King was prepared to do re those trying to "rob" him or not pay up on monies "owed" to him.

Fergy · Feb 2, 2023

Fogger said: ↑

Don King was great for the boxing fans. He regularly put together fantastic cards full of high quality matchups and big name fighters

However, he took advantage of many boxers and was sued on innumerable occasions. He won some of the lawsuits and lost others but you would hear the same story over and over from boxers about how he promised them one thing and way too often delivered another.
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This is it.!

McGrain · Feb 2, 2023

Try working with the guys who handled Liston. Or "put your fists up boys. Open them. Take them away. But here's the hand that will count the money" *shows his own hand* 1930s, 1940s era promoters. King is no worse than them and all the argument is about is whether or not he was any better.

AntonioMartin1 · Feb 2, 2023

I actually heard that John Gotti slapped Don King for the Tim Witherspoon (or was it the Mike Tyson?) situation.

Flash24 · Feb 2, 2023

Dubblechin said: ↑

You guys trot out the same handful of people and say Don King robbed them.

Don King has promoted THOUSANDS of boxers over the decades. Thousands.

Don King is in his 90s ... and he's been all but retired for most of the last decade, and boxers STILL want to sign with him.

Don King, just basically goofing off from his home in retirement ... made Trevor Bryan a millionaire. Just playing around with the WBA's rules, he made a mediocre boxer who no one believes is a million-dollar fighter a millionaire.

Trevor Bryan could sue Don King tomorrow and say he didn't get all the money Don King promised him, and it is 100 times more than any other promoter EVER would've paid Trevor Bryan (or ever will again).

And as for killing a guy, Don King kicked a guy in the head on the street who owed him money long before he ever became a promoter and the guy died and he went to jail for it. King didn't want the guy to die. You don't get paid if the guy who owes you money dies. Even the people who prosecuted him didn't think he intended to kill the guy. Since the advent of YouTube, we've seen a lot of brutal fights on the street where people kick and hit each other in the head. Some die. Some are lucky and the people they kick or hit don't die. It happened. He was punished. He moved on.

So you can quit clutching your pearls, Don King hasn't killed anyone in nearly 60 years and isn't likely to ever again.

Either way, he did his time ... got out of jail ... made a personal fortune ... and made more than 100 boxers millionaires who weren't millionaires before.

And there have been promoters who have come along since who are far worse, and people ignore them and continue regurgitating stories that Don King kicked a guy in the head a half a century ago.

How many deaths has Daniel Kinahan - Tyson Fury's pal and promoter who keeps getting him all these Saudi offers - been involved in again?

And he's still wanted.
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A great post. One of the best ever on this site. Amen and Cheers.

swagdelfadeel · Feb 5, 2023

Bokaj said: ↑

Great to have written on the gravestone that.
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Laughed out loud.

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Just to play devil's advocate, was Don King really this evil garbage?

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Just to play devil's advocate, was Don King really this evil garbage?

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