AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING: NEW ARTICLE AND AUDIO INTERVIEW ON BOXINGRANKS.COM

Say what you want about him, there is still only one boxing promoter who stands head, shoulders, and hair above all the others: Don King. At 73 he still appears to be going strong, preparing a series of major fights between February 5 and May 14 with world title fights in the heavyweight, cruiserweight, and welterweight divisions. King is also one who is not exactly shy about talking with the media. But too often the media is shy about finding an approach to talk with him. If he is fed too soft a question, he may just reply with his standard 'Only in America' spiel, no matter what the topic. If he is hit with something too harsh, which he does not want to answer, he also may counter with those same set lines. In either case, the answers may have some entertainment value, but little of substantive use. Yet when it comes to discussing his upcoming plans, from his own perspective, of course -- and what businessman would be much different in such a situation anyway? -- King is usually happy to oblige. If you ask him specific questions, he will usually provide specific answers. With this free journalistic tip now revealed, it should be noted that he appeared particularly grim on his latest trip to New York when he held a press conference on Wed., Jan. 12, announcing his $2.5 billion lawsuit against ESPN and Disney. Part of this was the almost legalistic atmosphere at this press conference, where he let his attorney, Willie Gary, do most of the talking, and was surrounded by a team of suits. Usually in the front are a bunch of fighters and their managers and trainers, participating in what amounts to special shows designed just for the media, sometimes with live music and all. There was none of the trappings of one of his usual press conference spectacles here, as there had been only a week earlier in the build-up in St. Louis to the rematch between welterweight champion Cory Spinks and Zab Judah on Feb. 5 in the Savvis Center. But the cameras, microphones, recorders, and notepads were all being put to use that day, and King did his best to make sure they all were filled up with lots from him. Even though he seemed unusually subdued, he stuck around after most of the media had left to talk some boxing. And talk we did. We have posted a new piece on Boxingranks.com analyzing his suit against ESPN and Disney, called 'A KING GOES TO COURT AGAINST A GIANT.' In addition, we have an accompanying audio interview with King which mainly focuses on his upcoming fight cards and his take on various topics such as the possibility of a heavyweight unification tournament. We also discussed his plans to create a new television fight channel. You can read and listen to all this at: http://www.boxingranks.com/ Plus, all this is free for you to read, listen to, and, hopefully, consider. For the audio interview, a media player that plays RealPlayer is required.