Posted on 08/31/2004 6:28:52 AM PDT by presidio9
After watching the speech by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani from an RNC skybox suite Monday, Boxing promoter Don King told CNN why he hopes President George Bush scores a knockout in November.
CNN: What do you think of the convention so far?
KING: I think it's a great start for a great future for this country for all Americans. I think it established the fact that George Walker Bush is a tough man with a tender heart. His leadership is impeccable and gives comfort to all Americans, friend and foe alike.
CNN: What brings you to the RNC. Is there a particular issue you are here to support?
KING: My issue is the inclusiveness of African-Americans who have been excluded. When George Bush says he wants one America he is reaching out to African Americans. He struck a chord that goes to the root of racism by appointing qualified people to top positions. Colin Powell as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice [as] national security adviser, and in so doing he gave a new sense of dignity to those who have been disenfranchised, who have been left out, giving the very thing we've been seeking for 240 years ... by appointing blacks in important positions. Not that they are toadies or sycophants or Uncle Toms, but qualified people who just happen to be black ... symbolizing ... one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Four more years for George W. Bush.
CNN: Are you a lifelong Republican?
KING: I'm a 'Republicrat.' I'm for whoever's going to be doing something or the upward mobility of America, black and white alike.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I heard this interview and thought he was great!
He ends every interview with shouting,
4 MORE YEARS!!!
4 MORE YEARS!!!
4 MORE YEARS!!!
At the top of his lungs!!!!! While waving American flags!!!
Gave me a new respect for his hair-do! LOL!!!
Amen! Don King earns my respect for once.
Are you listening Jessie? Al?
Don's stock just went up 500 points on my exchange.
I am...amazed.
LOL I know I will never make fun of his hair again! Because under that mop is a brain.. I found a new respect for him.
It's now trading at 500.....
I had no idea. Utmost respect for him. The hair draws attention for what he does for a living.
I saw him on Fox & Friends yesterday morning. He sure has a clear vision and terrific ability to express himself. I hope he shows up on every lamestream show possible between now and November.
I have seen him on FOX and somewhere else. I don't remember where. But he LOVES George W. Bush. He has been singing his praises every time I've heard him.
He also talks about W.'s faith!
The man has evidently been changed since 9/11!
I don't think most of us realize the depth, that event got burned into our lives.
Since we, here, are already Republicans.................we best be ready for all the new converts to conservatism, come into the fold!
Because they're coming! Praise the Lord!!!
sw
If his stock went up 500 points on my exchange, he'd still have to pay me to take it.
You seriously want a convicted killer to speak on our behalf for the next 2 months?
Of course he supports Bush, he admits to being a "Republicrat" and Bush is the nominee of that party.
Sorry, I missed that part of King's bio.
The flamboyant boxing promoter Don King has made his mark in the courtroom as well as the ring. The ruling against him in the Supreme Court is just the latest chapter in his long involvement with the law. He has a criminal record and a number of civil lawsuits to call his own. Despite all his legal troubles, he has managed not only to stay one step ahead of the law, but to maintain his position of the dominant player in the often sordid sport of boxing.
King rose to boxing prominence by creating the George Foreman - Ali bout in Zaire in 1974 (the so-called "Rumble in the Jungle"). Each fighter received $5 million -- an unheard sum at the time -- because King got President Mobutu, the dictator of Zaire (now Congo), to put up the money for the fight.
King's first profession was in the illegal numbers business in Cleveland. In December 1954, King shot and killed one of three men trying to rob one of his gambling houses. Prosecutors determined King was defending himself and declared the death a "justifiable homicide."
Twelve years later, also in Cleveland, King beat a man to death who owed him money on the streets of Cleveland. Although convicted of second-degree murder, the trial judge (for reasons unknown) reduced the conviction from murder to manslaughter. Not only did King serve a short term of 3 1/2 years, he would receive a pardon from then Ohio governor James Rhodes.
Since then, King has stayed away from criminal court, but has given civil lawyers considerable employment. As the de facto head of an unregulated industry where boxers have little legal protection, he has exploited his power and skills to the detriment of many of those who battle in the ring.
But he has been sued for various contract and tort grounds and been investigated by the FBI and questioned by Congress. In 1977, a heavyweight tournament he promoted was tarnished when it was discovered that fighters' records had been falsified. ABC was embarrassed and diminished its role in boxing, but King moved on.
Years later, the an FBI probe uncovered evidence of payoffs, possible racketeering and an "association" with mob figures like John Gotti and Michael Franzese. When King was questioned during a 1992 Senate investigation about his Gotti connection, King took the Fifth Amendment.
In 1984, the IRS came calling. King was indicted on tax fraud and conspiracy. The president of his promotion company was convicted, but he was acquitted. After the acquittal, King demonstrated his gratitude by taking them on an all-expenses-paid trip to London to see Frank Bruno fight heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon. Some of the jurors asked for his autograph after the trial.
Speaking of Witherspoon, he was one of the few fighters to successfully sue King. He won a $900,000 judgment, but he saw little of that money.
Others have not been as "fortunate." Muhammad Ali sued King after his 1980 fight with Larry Holmes, claiming King shortchanged his purse by $1.2 million. He later settled for $50,000. Holmes said: "I make more money with Don King stealing from me than 100 percent from other promoters." Hardly a sterling endorsement of the business.
In 1998, prosecutors charged that King had cheated Lloyd's of London out of $350,000 in training expenses for a scheduled Julio Cesar Chavez fight in 1991 that was canceled. King was acquitted of insurance fraud, and he took the jury members and their families to the Bahamas and then to Atlanta to watch heavyweight champion Holyfield fight Vaughn Bean. King reportedly gave them envelopes of money for shopping on the islands.
King tried to manipulate the outcome of a bout. Mike Tyson was upset by Buster Douglas in February 1990 in Tokyo. King attempted to get World Boxing Council President Jose Suliaman to overturn the result, claiming the referee long-counted Douglas when Tyson put him down earlier in the fight.
King has been accused of coercing his clients into signing contracts with remark clauses (a practice barred by the Muhammad Ali Boxing Act).
Tyson filed a $100 million lawsuit against King, charging that the promoter had stolen money from him.
In 2000, International Boxing Federation founder Robert W. Lee went on trial on 33 counts of bribery, conspiracy, racketeering, fraud and other charges in a federal investigation that uncovered payoffs for ranking fighters. King was an unindicted co-conspirator.
Lee was acquitted of all but six charges, including the bribery charges, making it impossible to go after King. However, King's rival promoters Cedric Kushner and Bob Arum cooperated with the and for their efforts (including testimony on payoffs made), they were each fined and and suspended by several states.
As Don King has said: "Only in America."
I have never been so surprised in my life....DON KING in President Bush's corner!! He couldn't be more welcome and anyone he wants to bring along!! THe DNC has painted the GOP with anti everything colors for too long. I think the Convention and DON KING are showing the GOP has put up a BIG ALL INCLUSIVE TENT!!
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