Don King Has Hope for America

The King of all promoters on the grounds of his mansion in Manalapan, Florida with the miniature Statue of Liberty facing the ocean.

Don King, the self proclaimed “World’s Greatest Promoter” said today the economic problems that currently plague the world are causing desperate times that call for desperate measures.

As a result, King is of the opinion that President Barack Obama should be given all the power he needs to right the American financial ship.

“It's time for someone to step in,” said King, who is currently in the midst of trying to get Marco Antonio Barrera some justice against the British Boxing Board of Control and or Amir Khan.

“Obama is the keeper of the taxpayer’s money and he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing,” continued King on the President’s role in the crisis. “He’s got to have the power to be able to deal with it and we’re in a crisis. We need government intrusion right now because we in a financial war - a financial crisis!”

King knows a thing or two about crises. The 77 year-old promoter was born in 1931 during the height of The Great Depression and he grew up poor on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio. Before becoming a boxing promoter he ran an illegal bookmaking operation and later spent nearly four years in prison on a manslaughter conviction.

King himself has seen his personal fortune affected by the meltdown of the world’s financial markets. He’s been forced to lay-off a good portion of his staff at the headquarters of Don King Productions in Deerfield Beach, Florida and he has had his oceanfront estate near Palm Beach on the market for over a year.


King is rarely seen adorned in anything but his sequined, custom-made jean jacket.

“We in a depression - not a recession!” boomed King. “The crisis is here now and Obama has to deal with what’s here in front of us right now! We can’t let GM go, because if that goes then all the other things that go along with it go, too! We need to go forth from this time and place and make America strong again!”

During the eight years that Republican George W. Bush was in office, King was a major supporter of the President and the Iraq War. King put on several boxing shows for the troops, gave away free tickets and even campaigned for Bush. Now with a Democratic President in the White House, King, always a flag-waving patriot, is just as vocal in his support for Barack Obama.

“Look, don’t criticize the man for protecting your money and for protecting you,” said King when asked of Obama’s tactics. “People are starving, people are losing their houses. Bank foreclosures, the banks are going bankrupt and collapsing. Let the man do what we elected him to do!”

In terms of the future of boxing, King says “I’m still in search of boxing’s next star. We gotta’ find him. We gotta’ find the hero, but I’ll tell you, boxing’s future is great!”


April 2009