Don King Up to his Usual Tricks; Boxing Fans Should not be Surprised

Shine Fights 3 "World's Collide" Cancelled due to Don King's boxing contract with Ricardo Mayorga

Don King flexed his legal and monetary power in the past week, citing his exclusive contract with Ricardo Mayorga to force an emergency injunction to halt the Shine 3 MMA card. Thus the worlds of boxing and MMA continue to become even more interwoven.

Considering the fact that Mayorga had not fought for several years, and had been knocked out three times in his past five fights in the boxing ring, it was surprising to see King clamor onto his fighter in this way. Not to mention that the contract seemed poorly understood and argued by all parties, since an exclusive boxing contract should not cover mixed martial arts events.

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Well all of this would have been surprising… unless you're a boxing fan. Boxing fans have long since been accustomed to the madness of Don King and the havoc he often wreaks on the boxing scene. In the past, he did so while at least providing the world with stellar fight cards and big matches that everyone was clamoring to see.

These days though, King is a part-time boxing promoter at best. Signing a boxing promotional contract with Don King now means nothing more than an inactive career, hidden away from the sport's biggest stages.

One great recent example is former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham. The exciting and dynamic fighter's career was all but crushed by the weight of his King contract, as he failed to get any fights and failed to receive any exposure. His lengthy contract finally expired, and he was picked up by a different promoter who will hopefully resurrect his career before it's too late.

King often throws a wrench into major events that could happen. When somebody wants to fight one of his fighters, he often demands "options" on the other fighter. That means if the other guy beats his guy, then he gets to promote the next maybe three fights of the opposing fighter that won. Pretty ridiculous, and it's disrupting the signing of more than one major bout in recent years.

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The point is, this is Don King's world, and we're just living in it. Anything that benefits his bottom line is what will get done. If it means canceling entire events, ruining careers, disrupting the entire fighting world, so be it.

By Jake Emen
ProBoxing-fans.com Editor-in-Chief