{"id":296401,"date":"2011-03-09T14:21:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-09T14:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/"},"modified":"2011-03-09T14:21:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-09T14:21:00","slug":"king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LAS VEGAS \u2013 Don King clasped his fingers in front of him and bowed his head. For a second, one of the world\u2019s most loquacious men was silenced. The 79-year-old boxing promoter is trying to drum up interest in a fight between the World Boxing Association super welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto, and the zany Ricardo Mayorga.<\/p>\n

Cotto and Mayorga are set to fight Saturday in the main event of a pay-per-view card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the payday of all the principals \u2013 Cotto, Mayorga, King and lead promoter Bob Arum \u2013 depends on the success the promoters have in convincing enough people to drop $50 for it.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Neither Don King (foreground) nor rival promoter Bob Arum (back) is ready to retire.
(Mark Lennihan\/AP)<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Mayorga is an 8-1 underdog; there\u2019s a fight on HBO between Sergio Martinez and Sergiy Dzinziruk opposite their pay-per-view; and there will be several NCAA basketball conference finals on television competing for viewership. It\u2019s an uphill battle for the longtime rival promoters, who have set out on something of a barnstorming tour to discuss their careers in the hope it generates interest in their fight.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re recounting tales of four decades of pitched battles against each other, where the fights outside of the ring were often fiercer and the stakes frequently higher than those in it. King tells the story of the time he was in the New York apartment of legendary ex-heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali\u2019s manager, Herbert Muhammad, trying to convince Muhammad to agree to an Ali fight against George Foreman.<\/p>\n

While King was in the apartment making his presentation, Arum showed up to discuss an Ali-Jerry Quarry fight. Unbeknownst to Arum, King hid in the bathroom while Arum made his pitch, emerging after Arum left to seal the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was paying for the damn apartment,\u201d Arum said, with mock indignation.<\/p>\n

King cackles as Arum laments the lost opportunity, but it\u2019s not long before King is eerily quiet. King promoted Roberto Duran for a large portion of Duran\u2019s early career, but when Duran was beaten by journeyman Kirkland Laing on Sept. 4, 1982, King thought Duran\u2019s time had come to an end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cut him a check for $100,000 and told him it was time to retire,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

But Duran was just 31, and despite having lost three of his previous five, he wasn\u2019t even close to being ready for retirement. Arum swooped in, signed Duran and quickly matched him with one of his young champions, Davey Moore.<\/p>\n

Moore was 24 and just 12-0, but he held the WBA super welterweight belt \u2013 the same title Cotto will defend on Saturday. Moore wanted to beat a name opponent to establish his bones as a big-time champion, and urged Arum to make a fight with Duran.<\/p>\n

Arum devised a grandiose plan. He planned to put on a doubleheader featuring Duran vs. Moore in the main event with a lightweight title fight involving champion Ray \u201cBoom Boom\u201d Mancini on the undercard. He\u2019d bring the card to South Africa, where his friend, Sol Kerzner, owned a casino, and would pair it with a concert by Frank Sinatra. The legendary singer, a big fan of Mancini, was eager to do it and Arum dubbed the event \u201cThe Chairman and the Champions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, disaster struck \u2013 or so Arum thought. Mancini broke his collarbone during training and couldn\u2019t fight. When Mancini was out, so too was Sinatra. And Duran-Moore wasn\u2019t a big enough bout to headline.<\/p>\n

Arum moved the fight to New York\u2019s Madison Square Garden and, acting on a tip, spent all of his advertising money in Spanish-language media outlets. Stunningly, the card sold out and ticket takers had to turn buyers away.<\/p>\n

Even better for Arum, Duran was masterful in decimating Moore, winning the title and rebuilding his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a very important lesson,\u201d King said. \u201cNever again would I tell a guy it was time to retire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither King nor Arum is ready to retire. Arum, also 79, remains on top of the game, with his company the dominant promoter in the sport. King has fallen on hard times and doesn\u2019t have the deep stable he once did, but he\u2019s only one fight away from being back in the mix.<\/p>\n

And so, King made an impassioned case for a Mayorga victor, while Arum excoriated a reporter he felt didn\u2019t believe in the fight.<\/p>\n

When Arum called King to offer Mayorga the Cotto fight, King was on the verge of signing a deal to have Mayorga fight in Germany against Felix Sturm. He jumped at the opportunity to work again with Arum, believing it would be a better promotion and could, ultimately, lead to a mega-payday against Manny Pacquiao.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

When Arum called King to offer Mayorga the Cotto fight, King was on the verge of signing a deal to have Mayorga fight in Germany.
(Jed Jacobsohn\/Getty Images)<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Mayorga smokes and drinks and is unpredictable in the best of times. King has frequently been at his wits\u2019 end with Mayorga, but Mayorga can punch and anyone who can punch always has a chance. So when Arum offered a title shot at Cotto, King got stars in his eyes and began to calculate.<\/p>\n

Cotto is an attacking fighter who will wade toward Mayorga, making it easier for Mayorga to land that one punch. And if Mayorga could land it, well, it could lead to a fight with Pacquiao. King knew he had to accept Arum\u2019s offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was seduced, but I knew what Arum was thinking,\u201d King said. \u201c\u00a0\u2018I\u2019ve got a crazy man on my hands here. Cotto can walk through this guy and if it goes past three, four rounds, he ain\u2019t going to make it.\u2019 I recognize that myself. I\u2019m handicapped, but when you\u2019re sitting on the curb watching the cars go by, you have to find something to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I said, \u2018OK,\u2019 and we got this fight together. But I told him, \u2018Bob, I\u2019m going to be honest with you: This guy may not even get to the ring, but I\u2019ll make every effort to get him there.\u2019 It\u2019s been hell, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the introductory news conference two months ago, Arum said if Mayorga were to defeat Cotto, he\u2019d be in the mix for a fight with Pacquiao. That was all Mayorga needed to hear. It gave him great motivation to train, which he hasn\u2019t always done.<\/p>\n

Mayorga is as unpredictable as any fighter in recent boxing history, but his midsection is ripped and he looks like he\u2019s worked hard to prepare himself. It\u2019s because he believes that he\u2019ll get a shot at Pacquiao by beating Cotto, King said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBob stimulated this boy, Mayorga, by telling him he could get Pacquiao \u2013 and Mayorga believed him,\u201d King said. \u201cI had been telling him the same thing, but when he heard it from me, it was like he thought I\u2019d say anything. You have to understand something that is basic and fundamental in people of color: A white man could tell a lie and it\u2019s believable; the black man could tell the truth and it\u2019s questionable. When Arum said that, it was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t know it, but he signed his own sentence for Cotto because Cotto will be iced. It ain\u2019t going to be like you predict it to be. The odds are 8-1. \u2026 The thing about it is, it\u2019s war \u2013 because he\u2019s going to beat Cotto because what he really wants is Pacquiao. And Bob here convinced him it was true, that he could get him.\u201d<\/p>\n

King is on a roll and Arum just lets him plow ahead. Arum has harsh words for nearly all of his other competitors \u2013 he singles out Golden Boy Promotions and Gary Shaw Productions among those with little innovation, in essence just opening the doors and hoping the crowds roll in \u2013 but is heaping praise upon King.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve fought their battles over many decades. Once, when Arum was promoting the Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard fight, King tried to climb into the ring to congratulate Leonard even though he had nothing to do with the fight. He\u2019d done it once before in an Arum-promoted event, getting into the ring at an Ali-Leon Spinks bout. Most of the world believed King promoted it because he appeared on television in the ring after the bout.<\/p>\n

So nine years later \u2013 after Leonard edged Hagler in 1987 \u2013 Arum spied King trying to enter the ring yet again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grabbed him by his suit coat and I tore the coat, trying to yank him back and keep him out of the ring,\u201d Arum said. \u201cI don\u2019t think I ever paid him for tearing it, but I wasn\u2019t going to let that happen to me again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years before, King kept Arum out of the ring \u2013 but he didn\u2019t have to tear his sport coat to do it. After King convinced Muhammad to put together the Ali-Foreman fight and go to Zaire, he asked Zaire president Mobuto Sese Seko to have Arum banned from the country.<\/p>\n

Arum couldn\u2019t get into Zaire to make a play on Ali, and King put on the bout that became known as \u201cThe Rumble in the Jungle\u201d \u2013 one of the biggest fights in the second half of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Arum shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some battles, haven\u2019t we?\u201d he said directly to King, who nodded his head in agreement.<\/p>\n

They could have waxed nostalgic for hours, but neither man is that way. It wasn\u2019t long before they were bounding out of the room in the bowels of the MGM Grand and heading to the lobby. An arrival ceremony was being held for Cotto and Mayorga, and Arum and King had talked enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on,\u201d Arum said to King. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a fight to promote.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Taken from:
\nKing, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2013 Don King clasped his fingers in front of him and bowed his head. For a second, one of the world\u2019s most loquacious men was silenced<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nKing, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"LAS VEGAS \u2013 Don King clasped his fingers in front of him and bowed his head. For a second, one of the world\u2019s most loquacious men was silenced\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-09T14:21:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/\"},\"wordCount\":1689,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/\",\"name\":\"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports) - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-09T14:21:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports) - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports) - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"LAS VEGAS \u2013 Don King clasped his fingers in front of him and bowed his head. For a second, one of the world\u2019s most loquacious men was silenced","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports)","datePublished":"2011-03-09T14:21:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/"},"wordCount":1689,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/","name":"King, Arum still at it after all these years (Yahoo! Sports) - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2011-03-09T14:21:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/09\/king-arum-still-at-it-after-all-these-years-yahoo-sports\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c411a041299680812.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}