THERE are several arguments which those of us inflicted with politically correct reflexes have felt compelled to launch on behalf of Don King. He is a black promoter in an overwhelmingly black business. Furthermore (and this from the current edition of Boxing Monthly), he is the only promoter interested in unifying the various heavyweight world titles.
The briefest perusal of Jack Newfield's excellent study of King's life and crimes puts an end to all arguments. Don King is 300lbs of scum and sleaze squeezed into a 150lb pound bag.
Calmly and without hysteria, Newfield has picked through the records.
So roll up and examine the police photo of Sam Garret, the man Don King kicked to death over a $600 debt in 1966, the second man to die at King's hands. Read the account of how King systematically broke the heavyweight championship into different versions of the same crown to suit his own ends.
Shed a tear as you read Larry Holmes account of being made to fight his declining hero and mentor Muhammad Ali. Gape at King's cold ruthlessness as he moves in on Mike Tyson at the funeral of Tyson's manager Jim Jacobs. Shake your head as one fighter after another recounts tales of rip offs, cheats and heists.
Don King has betrayed and stomped on just about every ally, every friend and every cause he has ever embraced from his first business partner, to the anti apartheid movement, to Mike Tyson. His specialty has been as one victim states black on black crime.
With an uplifting devotion to journalistic excellence, Jack Newfield has chronicled the whole tawdry story in this compelling book. Unmissable.
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