Name: Don King on Letterman, April 6, 1982
Uploaded: 2016-06-14T18:56:05.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Don King on Letterman, April 6, 1982' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2016-06-14. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Don King on Letterman, April 6, 1982' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2016-06-14. Transcript available.

Don King is certainly the most colorful, if not the most successful boxing
promoter in the sport today.
He is almost always in the midst of a highly publicized business deal or a
controversy of some sort.
A fascinating man who has led an equally fascinating life.
Please welcome Don King.
Yes, sir. Does Jane know you have that?
Nice to see you.
It's nice to be here, David.
Let's just start at the beginning. Tell me, what exactly does a boxing promoter
do?
Well, a boxing promoter puts together an attraction, an attraction that would
be big enough that people would want to come and see,
and then you construct a business deal around that attraction so that you can
make money for the people that are participating and make some for yourself.
Yeah. Now, let's talk about money.
Now, let's take the Cooney-Holmes fight. Is that going to happen?
Yes, it is.
When is that going to be?
It is definitely going to happen on June the 11th. It's going to be a
spectacular that the world is awaiting.
You're doing a little promoting here, aren't you?
Oh, absolutely.
But somebody was injured. Mr. Cooney tore a muscle or something.
Is that the delay in this bout?
He had a hurt shoulder, and now it has repaired itself, and he's doing very
well.
And he's now making a tour across the country and letting people see him, that
he really exists, and he lives, he's ready, and he's waiting to try to win.
Now, why is he doing that? He's traveling across the country to show people
that his shoulder is okay?
No, to show that he's okay, you know, because people begin to have doubt.
Yeah.
And uncertainty is a lethal disease in promotion.
Oh, I see.
You must establish stability, credibility, and that it will happen, and it will
happen. Holmes will be there on June 11th against Jerry Cooney.
So, meanwhile, you got this guy going town to town announcing that he's okay?
Well, no, they go around just to make public appearances and to do public
workouts, and Mary Holmes will be doing the same thing.
Now, this was your idea?
No, well, it's my idea, yes.
Yeah.
Okay, now, getting back to the money.
It's a group of us, you know.
I like to give everybody a play, you know.
How much is Holmes going to make on this?
$10 million.
Now, how much is Cooney going to make for this?
$10 million.
Now, these guys, 20 million bucks.
Now, is this Monopoly money, Don?
Is this, I mean, you know what I'm saying?
20 million, is that really 20 million, or is it just 20 million?
You know?
I mean, uh...
This is United States currency.
Do it all over the world.
Nobody has 20 million dollars.
Well, not today, but on June 11th, we will.
But now, where, uh, and I'm not really good at business, but where are you
going to get the 20 million bucks?
Well, we're going to market and merchandise this fight.
You know, it's sponsored by Camel, and it's going to be a Camel Crown event.
And we're going to merchandise it around the world.
We sell the television rights into foreign countries.
We're going to do closed circuit here in the United States.
And we're going to have a live gate at Caesars Palace, the largest live gate
ever in the history of boxing.
It's a $6.2 million guarantee.
And, uh, with that, and along with all the other ancillary rights that we can
market...
Ancillary rights meaning...
Anything you can do, T-shirts, banners, you know, boxing gloves, trunks, and
whatever you can do to get your hands on to sell, and merchandise with these
guys, we're going to do it.
And it's going to grow somewhere around $50 million.
Um, do you find now that the state of boxing is suspect more so than ever
before, or is the image pretty good?
I think the image is, uh, very good at this particular time.
It used to be that the old movies, Cagney and all of them, he'd be blind on
Fifth Avenue in a newsstand.
His brother would be playing Chopin at, uh, Carnegie Hall, and they'd say the
rosin got in his eyes.
You know, he was the boxer that supported his kid brother to go through school
to become a concert pianist.
And, uh, then you would see the movies where the guy have a gun in the corner
and say, I'm going to kill your mother if you don't go and take a dive.
You know what I mean?
So they put a real bad image.
Hollywood had a lot to do with that, along with the things that were happening
there.
Well, now, I mean, there was some shady stuff going on.
I mean, it's not only, you can't lay it off on Hollywood, I mean...
Well, that was part of it, because Hollywood did the exposure.
It's just like boxing yesterday, when you were doing it in one arena, you could
only get the live gate.
Now we do boxing and go around the world.
We could do a boxing match right here in the studio.
But there was, in fact, Jake Lomata in this very chair mentioned the fact that
he, at one time, had tossed a fight to get a chance at a title shot.
Does that go on still these days?
No, that was yesterday.
Today is a new day.
Oh, today is a new day.
Well, so, well, that's good to know.
Now, what about the various divisions?
You have the heavyweight, cruiserweight, super lightweight, bantamweight, super
bantamweight, extra skinny.
Yes, they do have quite a few divisions.
Now, is that good for the sport?
I think it is.
I think it gives more kids an opportunity to become a champion and have gained
recognition, fame, claim, and affluence.
And it gives a lot of us the opportunity to participate.
I think boxing is the last vestige of the free enterprise system.
It's the only business in the world that I know that a guy, totally uneducated,
can become a millionaire.
And if he has good common sense, he can then hire sense, you know, in order to
have longevity with his affluence.
So I think that boxing is just a great sport as an individual sport, it's one-on-one,
man-to-man, and I think everyone tries to emulate that.
Now, what about the possibility that too much product lessens the enthusiasm of
the public?
If you have all of these different classes, plus you have two sanctioning
bodies.
Now, what's the deal on that?
The WBC, which you represent, right?
Well, no, I don't represent either of them, the WBC or the WBA.
I have boxers that are under their aegis in their rankings.
They both are very nice organizations.
I think the WBC is one that is most notable.
It has a hundred or more countries that it represents and is doing a great job
of doing that.
But why do we need two of these guys?
Well, for whatever the reason is, they were there when I came in, and I find
them quite comfortable to work with.
That was yesterday, today is today.
Yes.
One of those deals, huh?
Yes.
And they govern boxing, David.
Yeah.
And they do a good job.
Yeah.
You know, there's no alternative.
I hear many complaints, many criticisms, many accusations, but no alternatives,
you know.
So therefore, you have to deal with what is real.
And what is real is that they exist, and they're doing a quite capable job
because boxing has a resurgence now that is unprecedented.
Let me, well, that's certainly true.
It seems to be more and more fights and more and more televised fights, and I
would guess that the actual attendance is higher than it used to be.
Tremendous.
It boggles the mind.
Let me ask you about your background.
You actually did time, didn't you?
Yes, I did.
I made the time serve me.
I had four years in incarceration at Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio.
I found myself with this time.
It was excruciating and painful, you know.
I imagine it was.
Can I ask you why you were there?
Manslaughter.
I had a fist fight in the ghetto, you know, where others have many, many fights
in the ghetto, and nothing happens.
I had a fight, and the guy died.
So I have suffered deep contrition for this, and I feel that the only way you
can expiate is by, for your sins, is by doing something for others.
However, I was in the numbers business.
Now the state is heralding the numbers business.
You know, everybody, look, there's a lottery ball jumping up.
The number is 978.
Yeah.
When I did that.
What was the number today, Don?
I don't know.
But in your case, you actually did rehabilitate yourself in prison, didn't you?
Yes, I did.
Educated myself in prison.
I read avidly in all the philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Thoreau, Cahyoga, Braun,
Marcus Aurelius, and I went to school by correspondence.
Yeah.
And it was a painful situation, but I found the jewel in adversity.
Let me ask you this.
How did you come, you came out of prison a convicted felon?
Yes.
Now how can you, is it possible for a man convicted of a felony to get a
license to promote boxing exhibitions?
Yes, it is, not only in America.
You know, I think America is just a great country.
I'm just delighted to be an American.
I love my country, David.
You understand that.
Yes, sir.
And I think I've done quite well.
I'm a true attestation to the American dream.
Now how did you go from being in prison for four years to putting together the
top fighting promotions in America?
Well, by faith in God, hard work, perseverance, determination, commitment, and
performance.
Yeah.
And knowing Muhammad Ali.
Where did you meet him?
I met him earlier on before I ever went to prison.
He was, you know, running around barking.
He's the greatest.
And I had a nightclub in Cleveland, and he used to come by there to see me.
And I became an avid fan of his.
And being in a foster in auto boxing, I would travel around to see him when he
would fight.
So from that friendship and relationship, a black hospital in Cleveland was
suffering from financial woes when I came home from prison.
So I initiated a fundraiser, and Ali was one of the ones who helped me to make
this fundraiser a smashing success.
Of all of the fighters that you've promoted, was he one of the easiest to
promote?
Yes, he's a very nice fellow.
But I think that Larry Holmes, the heavyweight champion of the world now, whom
I've grown with,
is one of the greatest fighters I've ever seen, and most remarkable young man,
and really a joy to do work with.
I guess it would, I couldn't let you go without asking, probably, the obvious.
Every time I see whomever I'm with, I say, what do you suppose is the deal on
Don's hair?
It's just great being on the David Letterman Show.
Late night with David Letterman, y'all.
But what, I mean, but you must, people must ask you that.
It's, you have unusual.
It is unusual.
Yeah.
You know, I think about that all the time.
You know, I'm a very religious guy, David, and believing in God and reading the
scriptures, you know, I kind of liken myself to Samson, you know.
He was one of the heroes of the Bible whose strength recited in his hair until
he told it to Delilah, and she quickly, you know, gave him a bald head.
And he was no longer strong, you know, but I feel that it's an aura from God.
It's an aura, not your aura, you know, and I don't have to do anything to it.
It just stands up by itself, and I feel that God.
Right, it certainly is distinctive.
You're a distinctive gentleman.
I appreciate you coming by.
David, it's my pleasure.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Don King, ladies and gentlemen.
We're going to pause.
We'll be right back.
We'll see you next time.