He’s back, the good, the bad and the hair-do.
If there’s any doubt that Don King has been missed, just listen to Bob Arum, who sounds positively giddy at the prospect of again doing business with an old rival whose booming voice, mangled metaphors and taunts defined a promotional feud that was boxing’s 30-years war.
It’s hard to say for certain whether King’s reality television-like courting of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., over lobster two weeks ago and at ringside for Devon Alexander’s victory last week will lead to a contract. At his best, King says lots of things. Meanwhile, Mayweather doesn’t say much anymore. Buyer beware. But a vintage King indicated Thursday on Stephen A. Smith’s radio show on Fox Sports that a deal is imminent.
From this corner, it’s not exactly clear how a King-Mayweather alliance makes it any easier to finally put together a fight with Manny Pacquiao. There’s still the matter of Roger Mayweather, Floyd Jr.’s uncle and trainer. Roger is facing a trial on Oct. 25 in Las Vegas on charges he assaulted a female boxer. If convicted, Roger could go away for as long as 10 years. The legal process is already underway. It doesn’t look as if a re-energized King, even with his persuasive powers reborn, can do much about that.
Above all, Mayweather is known for not taking chances. Pacquiao would be his riskiest fight ever. Barring a fundamental shift in his character, it’s not likely he would agree to fight Pacquiao when there’s uncertainty about the availability of the trainer he trusts. Could King talk him into allowing his father, Floyd Sr., into his corner if Roger goes to jail? Possibly. But the guess is that Floyd Jr. would want at least one tune-up, a test flight, with his dad, Floyd Sr., before agreeing to the biggest fight in years.
The hope is that will happen in May. King’s emergence as a Mayweather suitor sparked renewed enthusiasm for moribund negotiations because Arum and King have talked — know how to talk — to each other. That, however, wasn’t always the case at the height of a rivalry as bitter as anything in Arum’s standoff with Golden Boy Promotions.
After the then-Arum promoted Oscar De La Hoya lost for the first time in 1999 to King-promoted Flex Trinidad, Arum had a member of his staff pull the plug on a crowing King during the middle of the post-fight news conference. The electric outlet powering the audio at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay was yanked from the wall, which didn’t silence King as much as it surprised him.
Amid the battered game’s ever-shifting alliances, Arum and King are apparently back on speaking terms, mostly because Arum refuses to speak to Mayweather representatives Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe, Golden Boy President De La Hoya and his CEO Richard Schaefer. Arum went through an intermediary, HBO’s Ross Greenburg, to speak to Mayweather’s reps during the last round of reported talks, or non-talks, or whatever they were.
The terms that tie Mayweather to Haymon, Ellerbe and Golden Boy haven’t been disclosed. But it hard to believe that there won’t be some kind of legal fight if Mayweather decides to sign with King in anticipation of a Pacquiao agreement that could be worth between $40-to-$50 million for each fighter.
That’s not ghetto-ese, the common language that King said he shares with Mayweather and a term ridiculed by Schaefer, who called septugenarians King and Arum a couple of dinosaurs in a story by AOL FanHouse’s Lem Satterfield .
It’s money-e$e.
From dinosaurs to dollars, everybody understands that one.
Mayweather model
Light-heavyweight Chad Dawson hopes to follow a path to stardom blazed by Mayweather.
“Call him an asshole if you want, but he definitely gets it done in the ring,’’ Dawson said a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas as he trained for a significant test of his skill and star power Saturday night against Jean Pascal (25-1, 16 KOs) in an HBO fight in Montreal.
Like Mayweather, Dawson says he will rely on brain power.
“Usually, guys who look for the knockout, get knocked out,’’ said Dawson, whose 27-0 record includes 17 KOs.
Notes, anecdotes
· Former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield plans to fight again on Nov. 5 against Sherman Williams at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. There’s a tired debate about whether Holyfield should be licensed to fight. But the market p[lace is making it own decision. Holyfield victory over Frans Botha at Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Arena on April 10 drew a reported crowd of fewer than 2,000. The public is saying it won’t watch Holyfield anymore.
· And business, including boxing, has been staying out of Arizona because of the angry debate over a tough new immigration law. Sponsor Tecate and TV Azteca forced Arum to pull a July 17 card featuring Phoenix prospect Jose Benavidez out of the state. The Mexican companies did not want to do business in Arizona, Arum said. But TeleFutura is scheduled to televise a card on Friday, Aug. 20 at Tucson’s Casino Del Sol. It will feature Filipino lightweight Mercito Gesta (18-0-1, 8 KOs), now of San Diego, against Genaro Trazancos (22-11-1, 13 KOs), who was born in Mexico City and currently lives in Fort Myers, Fla.