King roast: No laughing matter
The Friars Club did to Don King last week what a lot of fighters have wanted to do for 25 years. They roasted him.
The social club, which is made up of New York-based entertainment and sporting celebrities, jammed more than 1,400 people into a ballroom at the New York Hilton and went at King's well-deserved reputation as a rapscallion, thief, and worse. Only in boxing, or among big-money types, are such things seen as amusing.
Before the event began, King was holding forth in a small side room when ex-heavyweight champion Joe Frazier lumbered in with his son, Marvis. Frazier was among several fighters who showed up that day, including Evander Holyfield, Michael Spinks, and World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster.
''What can I say bad about the guy?" Frazier said of King. ''He brought the money. Except he didn't pay me the money he owed me."
King cackled. Frazier did not.
Next was Bob Gaudio, a music producer and writer whose Broadway play, ''Jersey Boys," tells the story of the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, a musical group of which he was an original member. Not far behind came Dionne Warwick, Freddie Jackson, and Lloyd Price, the man who sang ''Personality" and is allegedly responsible for bringing King into boxing. Price is respected for his work in the music world. More than a few fighters would have been just as happy if that's what he'd stuck with.
There was Mickey Freeman, an actor who once played Private Zimmerman on the old TV show ''Sergeant Bilko." There was comedian Gilbert Gottfried, former the mayor of New York City, David Dinkins, and film producer David Brown, whose credits include ''A Few Good Men," ''Jaws," and ''Cocoon."
Early in the evening, artist LeRoy Neiman was called on to present King with a portrait. He produced one about the size of a postcard, what he called ''a pocket painting because a little of Don goes a long ways."
As the dais was being announced one by one, Frazier received an ovation. ''We should have held the roast for him," said roastmaster Donald Trump. Don King smiled that assassin's smile. One couldn't be sure if he thought this was funny or not.
When Trump finally stood up at the dais to take over the affair he asked, ''How come there's so few boxers here? Because Don King screwed so many of them they wouldn't come. Let's face it, Don King is a good, damn thief. He screws everyone he touches. He screwed me for years and I didn't like it."
At that, King put a cigar about a foot long in his mouth and smiled, undoubtedly at the recollection of all the money and all the nights promoting Mike Tyson at Trump's Atlantic City properties. Since that time, Trump has filed for bankruptcy protection, Tyson has filed for bankruptcy protection, and King hasn't missed a meal. So it goes in boxing.
Al Malnick, a prominent attorney who became a Miami Beach club owner, joked about the real Teflon Don's ability to avoid convictions the way LaDainian Tomlinson avoids tacklers.
''I have a great ability to raise reasonable doubt . . . and for the life of me I don't know why you're not in jail . . . When you die you're going to hell," Malnick said. ''No doubt about it . . . unless [World Boxing Council president] Jose Sulaiman gets to St. Peter first and changes his scorecard."
King chuckled at that and waved the two small American flags that have become his props and constant companions in recent years.
Finally, after a long and filthy monologue, comedian Lisa Lampanelli hit King where it hurts the most.
''Don, you're a true genius," Lampanelli said. ''You found a way to make money off your own people." Boxing has always been the sport of the downtrodden, the one steep ladder out of poverty that many attempt to ascend. It has always been a sport dominated by each new wave of immigrants, be they Jewish, Irish, Polish, Italian, Hispanic or Asian. But perhaps the most damning statement about American society's lack of opportunities for African-Americans is that nearly all of those groups no longer dominate boxing because the ancestors of those great fighters don't necessarily have to fight for a living any more. The sport is still dominated by African-Americans, in part because life remains so tough for so many of them that boxing still looks like a way out.
Don King neither waved his flags nor smiled about Lampanelli's sharp jab. He did grin but it was the grin a rattlesnake has before he strikes.
Minutes later, comedian Jackie ''The Joke Man" Martling, once a staple with Howard Stern, hit King with another body blow when he said, ''I know Mike Tyson is a little annoyed with Don. He told me so last night while he was parking my car."
At the end of the dais, a young welterweight champion named Zab Judah broke out laughing. A friend of Tyson's and a boxing employee of King, who promotes him, Judah has a bright gold tooth, a diamond earring the size of a softball, a wide smile, and a vast storehouse of talent. Whether he has them when he's Joe Frazier's age, well, only time will tell. But if he doesn't, he won't be laughing then, because he will have learned what so many fighters eventually learn about boxing promoters. The joke, all too often, is on them.
As Judah was laughing, a man approached one of King's employees at the side of the room with a subpoena. King is being called to appear in a lawsuit involving former WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and the International Boxing Federation. Klitschko claims he was denied a shot at Chris Byrd when the IBF lowered him in its rankings and put ahead of him someone he'd already beaten. Someone promoted by King.
As the papers in yet another lawsuit were being accepted by one of his minions, Don King was standing at the podium, laughing.
Short jabs
Arguably the best fighter in the world returns to the ring Nov. 19 HBO when undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. (34-0, 23 KOs) tests himself at welterweight for the first time against former champion Sharmba Mitchell (56-4, 30 KOs). Mayweather has held titles at 130, 135, and 140 pounds, and after beating up Arturo Gatti in his last outing, he is moving up. Mitchell is a bit used-up, but the two-time world champion will be a good first test at the weight for Mayweather . . . Showtime will be busy with shows tomorrow and Saturday night. The big one is Saturday when New Bedford's Scott ''The Sandman" Pemberton tries to put undefeated IBF super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy to sleep. The 38-year-old Pemberton (29-3-1, 24 KOs) was the No. 1 contender for more than a year but never was able to secure a title shot until an injury to Australia's Danny Green and one to Joe Calzaghe of Wales left both Pemberton and Lacy without opponents at the same time. Lacy, a former United States Olympian who was 209-12 as an amateur, is 20-0 with 16 KOs as a pro. The semi-main event is another solid fight between IBF bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez (34-3, 30 KOs) and No. 1 contender Silence Mabuza (18-0, 15 KOs). The night before, the cable outlet will stage what it's claiming to be its finest ShoBox card, headlined by Sechew Powell vs. Archak Termeliksetian from the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla. . . . Saturday night WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison (24-2-2) takes on tough Nedal Hussein (39-2) in Glasgow. Harrison is a rough customer, especially in his hometown, but Hussein claims, ''I'm going to hit him the hardest he's ever been hit. Then we'll see what happens." Indeed we will . . . Irish John Duddy, who has a growing following of supporters around Boston, puts his undefeated (12-0) record on the line tomorrow night at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan against Bryon Mackie (25-11, 8 KOS).Local bleatings
Saturday night, local promoter Danny Kelly stages a show at the Dorchester Armory with popular Jimmy LeBlanc taking on Philadelphia's Leo Edwards in the main event. Edwards once stopped Willie Wise, the man who stopped Julio Cesar Chavez. Doors open at 7 p.m. with tickets priced at $30 and $40 . . . Two weeks later, at Freeport Hall in Dorchester, Roy Payne (19-12-4, 6 KOs) takes on John Rainwater (10-11-3) in a rematch for the vacant Massachusetts cruiserweight title. On the same card, Marvin Cordova (5-0, 4 KOs) squares off with Shakha Moore (9-10-3). For more information, call 781-932-1190 . . . US Marine Corps boxing will make two stops in New England on its second annual Great Northeast Tour. The first fittingly comes on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, at Foxwoods when the team will take on amateurs from Connecticut and the Native American club teams. The show is headlined by Sgt. Eric Manzebo, who is returning after an eight-month tour of duty in Iraq and boxing for the Marine team out of Camp Lejune, N.C. Manzebo will face Nate Jimmerson in the 201-pound class. The show begins at the Fox Theatre at 7 p.m. The following evening the Marine team will fight a group of Massachusetts amateur champions at Tewksbury Country Club. The show, which begins at 7, will include a full dinner. For more information, call 978-866-5867.
