Love him or hate him, if you are involved in the world of boxing and want to participate at the highest level, sooner or later you will either be fighting Don King in court or working with him.
In many cases both scenarios will be true. You may even find yourself in multimillion-dollar legal battles, while standing arm-in-arm with the most successful boxing promoter of all time.
Three years ago South Africa’s Rodney Berman was suing King, now King claims: ‘Rodney and I are blood brothers. We haven’t slit our arms open and pressed them together, but we’ve made a pact. We want to expose South Africa to the world of sport’s entertainment. My aim’s to give people the opportunity of having fame, acclaim and affluence and that’s what I want to do for my African brothers.â€
King is co-promoting his first tournament in South Africa with Berman this Saturday at Carnival City in Brakpan. While the bill is not, as it is being proclaimed, the biggest event to be staged locally, it is a good line-up and one that fight fans will enjoy.
The headline fight sees the Frenchman, Jean-Marc Mormeck, defending his World Boxing Association cruiserweight tile against the man he beat to win the title a few years back, Virgil ‘Quicksilver†Hill.
King has likened this fight to the first and most famous tournament he ever promoted — the ‘Rumble in the Jungle†in Zaire in 1974.
Former three-time world champion, Hill — like Muhammed Ali — is older and not expected to win against the big-hitting Mormeck.
The champion does not, however, carry the fearsome and indestructible reputation George Foreman had when he arrived in Zaire to defend his crown against Ali.
One could liken Hill’s challenge to the one Ali faced back then, but for King to expect people to line the streets as they did to get a glimpse of Ali and Foreman back in the 1970s, is completely unrealistic.
But King showed his ignorance of the current situation in South Africa by making a call for all the Zulus and Xhosas to come out of the bush to support the fight.
In reality, Mormeck and Hill are relative nobodies on the South African stage. Had either of them been facing a local fighter it would already be a more-anticipated event.
Local fight-fans are more interested in the supporting bout between Phillip ‘the Time Bomb†Ndou and Isaac ‘the Angle†Hlatswayo for the latter’s national lightweight title.
While the night is sure to be an entertaining one — and King promised it will be SKD (something kinda different) — there will not be a sellout crowd. With ticket prices starting at R750, the average boxing fan is immediately taken out of the equation.
If King, who is notorious for wanting to see the money before he talks business, is serious about his future as a promoter in South Africa, he would need to get another cheque — and that’s a reality check.
There are only a handful of boxers who can still draw crowds at high prices worldwide — Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson leading the way — and that rings true in South Africa as well. We are not a dumping ground for boxers who don’t sell abroad.
King has promised to return with a huge bill in November, featuring a heavyweight world title fight. He has three of the current champions — John Ruiz, Chris Byrd and Lamont Brewster — in his stable, so he can most certainly do that. But as these three are among the least marketable heavyweights yet, if they face anyone other than Corrie Sanders, who would care to go and watch?