Don+King

[|www.donking.com] Donald "Don" King was born December 9, 1932 Cleveland, Ohio. After dropping out of Kent State University, he ran an illegal bookmaking operation, and was charged for killing two men in separate incidents 13 years apart from each other. The first was homicide after it was found that King shot Hillary Brown in the back and killed him while he was attempting to rob one of King's gambling houses. the second one was in 1966 King was charged with stomping to death an employee who owed him $600. In a meeting with Kings attorney, the judge reduced King's sentence to four years in prison.

King entered the world of boxing after convincing Muhammad Ali to box in a charity exhibition for a local hospital in Cleveland with the help of singer Lloyd Price. King's success trough the promoting boxers made him a lighting rod for controversy such as lawsuits from other boxers and charges of tax evasion by the IRS and jury tampering. All and all King has promoted boxers such as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez, Aaron Pryor, Bernard Hopkins, Ricardo Lopez, Felix Trinidad, Terry Norris, Carlos Zarate, Azumah Nelson, Andrzej Gołota, Mike McCallum,Gerald McClellan, Meldrick Taylor and Marco Antonio Barrera. King through it all helped reinvent the boxing world with his promoting and charisma.