The Godfather of the hardest game is 80 on Saturday and is delivering his own King?s speech, a tale of ghetto to incarceration, then on to glory.
This significant anniversary is a day for telling untold stories. Don King is in suitably reflective mood, remembering how he changed not only boxing but ?the whole damn world? by persuading Ali and Foreman to fight in Zaire.
That was 37 years ago, but The Don is not done yet.
He has just lent Floyd Mayweather Jnr half a million dollars which, although it goes unsaid, might result in him co-promoting the richest fight of all time with his royal and ancient rival Bob Arum, who just happens to handle Manny Pacquiao. Bet against it at your own risk.
He also has much to say about the current heavyweight scene and the search for new heroes. David Haye may not want to read any further.
King has been lampooned for his over-extravagant mangling of the English language when ? as a more persuasive salesman than Saatchi & Saatchi ? he is promoting his fights.
Yet, when he talks privately at his offices here, his desk crowded with memorabilia and his walls lined with photographs of himself with princes and presidents, he does so with a quiet and precise use of vocabulary.
