Boxing promoter Don King has been involved in creating some of the biggest bouts in history - including "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila" - but he has also killed two people during his lifetime. First of all, in 1954, while King was running an illegal bookmaking operation out of the basement of his record store in Cleveland, Ohio, he shot robber Hillary Brown in the back. Brown died but King was not convicted for the killing, with the judge deciding it was "justifiable homicide" due to the fact the promoter was being robbed. However, 12 years later King killed another man - and this time he was convicted of second-degree murder, meaning it was determined as intentional and with malice aforethought but not premeditated or planned. In April 1966, King walked into the Manhattan Tap Room and spotted Sam Garrett who owed him $600. King then took Garrett outside before stomping him to death. Despite being convicted of second-degree murder, King's lawyer had a meeting with the judge and the conviction was reduced to non-negligent manslaughter and he served less than four years in Marion Correctional Institute, Ohio. King was also pardoned by Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes in 1983, meaning the crime is no longer registered. Promoting the likes of Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Joe Frazier may have brought a number of lawsuits, with a whole host of the star boxers claiming King defrauded them at one point or another, but they are small fry compared to the bigger crime King has been convicted of.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
