Boxing promoter Don King?s voice on the telephone was booming, full of excitement. It was as if he had a major fight to announce, but this time, he was talking politics.
King said he was aboard Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump?s airplane, talking to Yahoo Sports about why, at 85 years old, he?s getting himself mixed up in one of the most rough-and-tumble campaigns in years.
?We?re going to fly this thing all the way to the White House,? King said, guffawing. ?I?m supporting the will of the people and the rejection of a corrupt and racist system. You go back and you?ll see, the founding fathers and the original 13 colonies, they rejected that system by going against King George. We will create a whole new system and tear this broken system we have apart so we can make America great again.
?No one has attacked the system the right way. We deal with the effects the system creates, but not the cause.?
He began to go on, but he was momentarily distracted. A familiar face apparently approached him on the plane as he was talking to a reporter on the phone.
?Hey, Bobby Knight!? King shrieked. ?You are the best, man. The absolute best. What a great coach. What a great guy!?
He turned his attention back to the telephone.
?Man, the great Bobby Knight is here,? King said. ?He?s out there for Donald Trump, too. We?re going to go everywhere we have to go and do what we need to do to help Donald Trump make America great again.?
It was as if it were 1986 and King was in his prime promoting boxing. He and UFC president Dana White, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, are supporting Trump.
King?s long-time and often bitter rival, promoter Bob Arum, is supporting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
King and Arum have battled viciously, often ruthlessly, for years, but they?ve mellowed and in 2010, promoted a show together in which they swapped stories and attaboys.
King turned 85 on Aug. 20, while Arum?s 85th birthday is Dec. 8. Both are still trying to make a go of it in boxing, though they?re working in what has become one of the toughest eras for boxing in many years.
Both have always, however, dabbled in politics to one degree or another. A Harvard Law School graduate, Arum worked in the Kennedy Administration as a tax attorney and developed what he said was a good relationship with the late Sens. Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is Arum?s pal and often shows up at fights he promotes. But Arum, who said he voted for President Obama in 2008, is not a full-time Democrat. He considers himself a non-partisan who leans Democratic, but conceded he voted for Republican Mitt Romney in 2012.
?I think Romney would have been a great president,? Arum said.
King?s political affiliations are all over the map. He was an ardent supporter of President George W. Bush and bragged Wednesday that he delivered Ohio and Florida to Bush in 2004 by getting out the black vote.
King was stumping for Trump in Ohio on Wednesday when, in a slip of the tongue, he used the ?N-word.? King chuckled as he explained his mistake to Yahoo Sports from his seat on Trump?s plane.
?I slipped and used the ?N-word,? as if I were talking directly to Michael Jackson,? King told Yahoo Sports. ?I was speaking to Michael Jackson, but I was speaking in the vernacular we?d use on the street and I slipped.?
Trump, who was seated behind King as he said it, smiled at King?s mistake as others in the background laughed hard. But it was no laughing matter to Arum, who has tweeted often during the campaign about his support for Clinton.
After King?s appearance with Trump on Wednesday, Arum tweeted, ?Once again @realDonaldTrump shows that he lacks any good judgement (sic) to be president. Campaigning with Don King?! #OnlyInClevelandHeights?
