After the fight: Don King and his faded boxing promotional stardom

Don King was the first superstar boxing promoter. He promoted some of Muhammad Ali’s and Mike Tyson’s biggest fights, but those days are gone.

Don King was once the most successful boxing promoter globally, but today, at 90 years old, King’s boxing shows are comically sad. You have to wonder, why is he staying in the game?

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is 91 years old, yet his promotional company is still putting out some of the most significant fights in the sport while King is slipping into embarrassing obscurity. His latest fight card featuring Ilunga Junior Makabu vs. Thabiso Mchunu is the latest example.

To be fair, the rematch between Makabu and Mchunu was competitive. Makabu is the WBC cruiserweight champion, but many felt he should have lost his title to Mchunu during their Jan. 29 rematch.

The main event wasn’t the problem. The execution of the fight card and the lackluster undercard was more of an issue. Even though Makabu is a champion, his name doesn’t carry the weight of the $49.99 price tag attached to this event. The same could be said for heavyweights Trevor Bryan and Jonathan Guidry, battling for the WBA “regular” heavyweight title.

The fact that Bryan and Guidry were competing in a “championship” bout is a travesty, where the WBA also deserves some of the blame for their ridiculous amount of title belts and their awful rankings system. However, King was more than happy to use the word “championship” as a wallpaper decoration to dress up a subpar fight card. To charge $49.99 for it was a blatant middle finger to boxing fans.

King was once one of the biggest promoters in the business. He staged the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, one of the best heavyweight matchups in history. So was the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” between Ali and Joe Frazier, also promoted by King. Makabu vs. Mchunu, in comparison, illustrates the monumental fall of King’s promotional empire.

Don King was once one of the biggest promoters in the world, but his star has faded considerably since his glory days

The fight poster for Makabu vs. Mchunu 2 looked like an art project from an 8-year-old who used computer software from 1995. The pixelated over-abundant text on the flyer was equivalent to King’s product, which is pure garbage.

During a conversation with some friends, someone said they felt bad for the aged King and the state of his current promotional status.

Not me. I consider it poetic justice.

Let’s not forget that King was once charged with taking the lives of two people, although he was only convicted of one of the crimes. Somehow, King did less than four years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

King stomped on somebody to death and began his boxing business after leaving prison. He staged some of the most memorable contests in boxing history and promoted legends like Ali, Larry Holmes, and Mike Tyson.

Ali, Holmes, and Tyson also accused him of ripping them off of millions of dollars. Ever the slippery one, King settled many of the lawsuits from fighters like Holmes.

It was Tyson who said of King in an ESPN profile on King, “He did more bad to black fighters than any white promoter ever in the history of boxing.”

King doesn’t seem to be suffering financially, but his current promotional game is second-rate. He will forever hold a place in boxing history, but his time as a top-dog in the promotional aspect of the sport seems to be over. Yet, King still feels the need to carry on.

“I will slow down when I go to heaven,” said King during a recent media call. “The gangsters blew up my car, my house. I am fighting a crooked system where women cannot get their rights and equality, and Black people cannot get a chance. That is why I have been fighting since I came out of the penitentiary.”

King’s still trying to brand himself as a hero who corrupt institutions have wronged. Yes, many of the institutions King alludes to contain corruption and inequalities, but his career in boxing allegedly added to the fabric of institutional immorality. After all, many of his former boxers are the ones who have leveled the most damning accusations over the years.

I believe King’s claim that he will carry on in the boxing business until he’s in heaven, if that’s where he’s going, but his days running boxing are long gone. Thank goodness for that.