Don King (boxing promoter)
| Don King | |
|---|---|
King speaking at FreedomFest in July 2016
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| Born |
August 20, 1931 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation | Boxing Promoter |
| Known for | "The Thrilla in Manila", "The Rumble in the Jungle", others |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | www |
Donald "Don" King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter known for his involvement in historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction (and later pardon), and civil cases against him.
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, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez, Ricardo Mayorga, Andrew Golota, Bernard Hopkins, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones, Jr. and Marco Antonio Barrera. Some of these boxers sued him for allegedly defrauding them. Most of the lawsuits were settled out of court.
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 King's gambling houses; this incident was ruled a justifiable homicide. In 1967, King was convicted of nonnegligent manslaughter for stomping one of his employees to death. For this crime, he served less than four years in prison. After being released, he was later pardoned in 1983.
King was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended school and graduated from John Adams High in 1951. After dropping out of Kent State University, he ran an illegal bookmaking operation out of the basement of a record store on Kinsman Road, and was charged with killing two men in incidents 13 years apart. The first was determined to be justifiable 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 in 1954. In 1967, King was convicted of second degree murder for the second killing after he was found guilty of stomping to death an employee, Sam Garrett, who owed him $600.
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