Only Cleveland could have produced a character as splendiferously vindictive as Don King. A Kent State dropout and former local numbers-runner, King killed two people in our fair city (one was ruled self-defense, the other manslaughter) before breaking into the boxing racket as a ruthless promoter — or, more appropriately, a pugilistic embezzler. From Larry Holmes to Mike Tyson, King has spent the last 30 years confusing and trapping pudding-headed boxers into surrendering their winnings. Even Muhammad Ali, one of the shrewdest men to step into a boxing ring, got stiffed and manipulated by this ultimate conman. How do we know all this? We just got the DVD of the HBO biopic Don King: Only in America, starring Ving Rhames with a Bride of Frankenstein ‘fro. …
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2008.