MIAMI — He was one of the biggest stars in boxing history and one of sports’ greatest showmen. He was the celebrity-promoter who shaped the careers of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. He was as big as they get in his reign from the mid-1970s through the ‘90s.
He was.
Don King introduced himself to the world by staging “The Rumble In The Jungle,” Ali KO’ing unbeaten champion George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. The African crowd adored Ali, chanted, “Ali, boma ye! (Ali, kill him!)” It was such a spectacle that B.B. King and James Brown were the warmup acts. The fight was watched by 1 billion worldwide, set pay-per-view records.
