1 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: It's May of nineteen seventy four. Amid the hustle and 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: bustle of New York City, Muhammad Ali walks up to 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: thirty Rockefeller Center. He's come to Manhattan to do publicity 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: for his upcoming heavyweight title fight against George Foreman. Between 5 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: Ali and Don King, this next great heavyweight fight is 6 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: about to become the most hyped event since the moon landing. 7 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: Don King promises it'll be an even bigger, more incredible, 8 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: stupendous bout than the fight of the century, the one 9 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: between Ali Frasier. When Ali moves through the lobby at 10 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: thirty Rockefeller Plaza, everyone he passes takes notice that it 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: is indeed the people's chant. It's spring, and this bright 12 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: May day brings with it clear skies, the kind perfect 13 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,919 Speaker 1: for enjoying the panoramic view from the sixty fifth floor. 14 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: Ali steps out of the elevator and into the Rainbow Room. 15 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: It's a decadent restaurant and dance floor that, with its 16 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: floor to ceiling windows, boasts a stunning three hundred and 17 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 1: sixty degree view overlooking the glimmering skyscrapers of New York City. 18 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: And here under the domed ceiling and the opulent crystal chandelier. 19 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: Muhammad Ali is greeted by reporters from around the world, 20 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: ready to hear Ali's thoughts about the upcoming super fight. 21 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: The journalists pepper him with questions as Ali gets situated 22 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: at the dais. They know Ali won't answer their questions 23 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: until he's in front of the microphone, yet still they ask. 24 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: There just behind the podium, arranged as a backdrop, is 25 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: a vast collection of traditional West African wood and stone 26 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: cut tribal masks proudly on display, and there to greet 27 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: the People's Champ is Don King, But notably, George Foreman 28 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 1: is not present. He's opted to skip this press conference. 29 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: This gives Ali the chance to have the press all 30 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: to himself, a chance he relishes. A reporter asked the 31 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: People's Champ, what's his opinion of George Foreman, the reigning 32 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: heavyweight champion. 33 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 2: Can't take nothing from George Foreman. Ken Norton won twenty 34 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 2: four rounds with me. Gave me pure hell. He broke 35 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 2: my jaw second fight. I want a close decision. George 36 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,359 Speaker 2: Foreman just knocked him over. Can't take nothing from George Foreman. 37 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: A reporter asks who Ali thinks will win. It's a 38 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,519 Speaker 1: silly question, Muhammad Ali rephrases it. 39 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 2: Why do I know I'll beat him? Three things. One 40 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 2: the power of Allah, who controls everything. I believe I'm 41 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 2: in good standing with him. Two experience, stay out of 42 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 2: the way for four or five rounds. 43 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 3: Three. 44 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 2: You ain't seen George Foreman turn yet. Round four, round seven, 45 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 2: round nine, round twelve, last round. I haven't seen George 46 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:12,399 Speaker 2: woman in a good scuffle yet. I haven't seen him 47 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 2: get winded. Joe Frasier, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, George Chuvallo, 48 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 2: Henry Cooper. The hit harder than me, but I beat them. 49 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 2: I don't rely on hitting power because I fix it 50 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,799 Speaker 2: so they ain't nothing to hit. This will be George 51 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 2: Foreman's first title fight. He'll be meeting the heavyweight champion. 52 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: To change the subject and the mood, Ali offers the 53 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: press a fresh rhyme. 54 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 2: Ali fights great. He's got speed and endurance. If you 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 2: signed to fight him, increase your insurance. 56 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: The press loves that one. Ali smiles. His charm offensive 57 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: is working throughout his life. A Lei enjoyed an irrepressible ego. 58 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: He always assumed somehow, some way, through the providence of Allah, 59 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: he would be fine. But not only that that he 60 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: would prevail Ali. Biographer Jonathan Ike deduced from his research. 61 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 4: Ali's attitude in life was always like, it'll work out. 62 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 4: His wife's mad Adam, it'll work out. Elijah Mohammed kicks 63 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 4: him out of Nation of Islam, It'll work out. He 64 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 4: gets knocked down by Joe Fraser and loses a fight. 65 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 4: That's all right, you know, I'll win. It'll be okay. 66 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 4: He is amazingly zen in that way. 67 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: Yet Ali's approach is far more ego centric than straight 68 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: up zen. 69 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 4: He feels like he's the center of the world and 70 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 4: everything's gonna come back in line. He's the son and 71 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 4: everything is revolving around him, and it'll all that's never 72 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 4: gonna change, no matter who's mad Adam, no matter you know, 73 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 4: what's happening politically or in his love life. Like I'm 74 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 4: still the sun. 75 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: They all need me. There was one other huge factor. 76 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: Ali always has a team pushing him from Louisville to 77 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:52,919 Speaker 1: the Nation of Islam. 78 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 4: When Ali comes back from the exile from the forced exile, 79 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 4: Herbert Mahammad becomes his manager, replacing for the most part 80 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 4: the white businessman from Louisville who had been managing his career. 81 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 4: And you know, Herbert's the son of Elijah Muhammad. He's 82 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 4: a very aggressive manager. He takes Ali's career into all 83 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 4: kinds of new directions. Some people would say he was greedy, 84 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 4: but then again, Damian boxing promoter who wasn't accused of 85 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 4: being greedy and putting their own interests ahead of their fighters. 86 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: Which brings us back to the looming shadow and malevolent 87 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: presence of Don King. Once you throw Don King. 88 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 4: Into the mix, along with Herbert Muhammad and the Nation 89 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 4: of Islam, man you've got It's amazing that somebody didn't 90 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 4: end up dead. 91 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to Rumble, the story of Ali Foreman and the 92 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: Soul of seventy four. I'm your host, Zaren Burnett, the 93 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: third from iHeart Podcast and School of Humans. This is 94 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: is Rumble. Previously on Rumble. 95 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 5: We came up with the idea of a concert as 96 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 5: a result of Attaka and seeing the horror of Attican. 97 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 6: All the prisoners wanted to see bb King. 98 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: There's another left by George. 99 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 2: He's getting into Fraser's head. 100 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:23,359 Speaker 6: Casselle was like the greatest setter of stage that ever 101 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 6: lived in. 102 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 7: Sports goes Fraser, down, goes Fraser, down, goes Fraser. 103 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,239 Speaker 3: So it's my understanding that the fight will be held 104 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 3: in Africa, and that is more fitting. That way I 105 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 3: can knock him all over the jump. 106 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: There's no easy way to describe Don King, to convey 107 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: the fullness of the man or his impact on boxing 108 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: and this story. 109 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 8: Don King becomes a central figure in boxing with the 110 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 8: Rumble in the Jungle. 111 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: In the months leading up to his crowning achievement. The 112 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: Rumble in the Jungle, King boasts to all who will listen, 113 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: this Ali Foreman title fight will be a spectacular extravaganza 114 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: to celebrate the global bonds of blackness. Meanwhile, the press 115 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: cannot believe the news. Yet another fight overseas and now 116 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: in Africa. 117 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 9: You may remember George Foreman won his title at Kingston, Jamaica. 118 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 9: In the continuing game of can you top this? We 119 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 9: now take you to Conshasa formerly Leopoldville Dair, which formerly 120 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 9: was part of the Belgian Congo. Formerly or presently it 121 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 9: is still deep in the heart of Africa. 122 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: This newcomer, the boxing world and the sporting press blame 123 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: for this development gets compared to some kind of tribal warlord. 124 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 10: Don King is the newest strong man in fight promotion. 125 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 10: He is boxing's No. Number one impresario who put together 126 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 10: a projected thirty five million dollar George Foreman Muhammad Ali 127 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 10: heavyweight title fight in September in Zai Year Africa. 128 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: There's also plenty of talk of his recent past, especially 129 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: his time out in Hollywood. You see, before his entrance 130 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: into boxing, Don King tried to become a blaxploitation filmmaker. 131 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 11: You know what Don King was thinking about a year ago? 132 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 11: He was thinking about producing a movie. 133 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 3: I kid you not. 134 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 11: This was a Lulu kind of a black godfather, if 135 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 11: you will. It was called something like Blood, Black and White, 136 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 11: and it was filled with four letter words and sex. 137 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 11: But the plot was a Dandi ruby. It matched the 138 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 11: black mafia of Cleveland versus the white mafia of Youngstown. 139 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 11: All King needed was five million dollars to produce it. 140 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: But then Don King gets strategic. He looks across the 141 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: ranks of boxing champions and contenders and he sees that 142 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:06,559 Speaker 1: with the new generation of heavyweight champs, men like ah Lee, 143 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: Frasier and Foreman, there's a niche These fighters will trust 144 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: a black businessman in a way they'd never trust the 145 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: white fight promoters. Mark Kriegel says, King found he could 146 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: capitalize on this racial dynamic, and he was also. 147 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 5: Able to exploit this whole idea of black consciousness like 148 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 5: there was no white promoter that was going to do that. 149 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: The brilliance and the bullshit has always gone hand in 150 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: hand with Don King, but like any cultural figure, it 151 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: took time to cultivate his public persona. At the start 152 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,199 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy three, the R and B hit maker 153 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: Lloyd Price, who recorded the classic Stagger Lee, is staying 154 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: busy working for Don King as a headliner at the 155 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,079 Speaker 1: nightclub in Cleveland that King owns. One day, the two 156 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: of them are hanging out and Lloyd Price suggests King 157 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: he needs to fix up his look. As Mark Kriegle 158 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: tells the story. 159 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 5: Lloyd Price, you know, one of the great original rock 160 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,320 Speaker 5: and rollers, says, Hey, you know, we got to get you, 161 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 5: like you got to have a signature, you got. 162 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: To have a look. Taking Price's advice, Don kinging decides 163 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: he'll start brushing his hair straight up to. 164 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 5: God, and King was very taken at the time. Whether 165 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 5: a preacher, Daddy Grace up in Harlem. So somehow he 166 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,680 Speaker 5: starts combing his hair in a way, and I guess 167 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 5: Lloyd Price says, yeah, that's it. That works. And of 168 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 5: course when Don spins it as only a great barnum can, 169 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 5: it becomes divinely inspired. That you know, God made his 170 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 5: hair stand. 171 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 3: My hair is God's aura. Everything went up when I 172 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 3: got home from the penitentiary one night. I went to 173 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 3: lie down next to my wife and my hair started 174 00:10:55,559 --> 00:11:00,319 Speaker 3: popping and uncurling all on its own, ping ping, pinging. 175 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 3: I knew that it was God telling me to stay 176 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 3: on the righteous path so he could one day pull 177 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 3: me up to be with him. 178 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:16,199 Speaker 1: Yes, Don King believes his hair is a covenant with God, 179 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: his ticket into heaven and on earth. He knows full 180 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: well that it makes him iconic. Just like Ali, Don 181 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: King is a natural born showman. Now the two are 182 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: about to combine their powers for hype, and again the 183 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: world of boxing doesn't know what to make of this 184 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: new development. 185 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 11: This whole thing, of course, is absurd. A heavyweight championship fight, 186 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 11: once one of the premier events in sports, could now 187 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,559 Speaker 11: be held in Outhouse, Oklahoma, as long as closed circuit 188 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 11: TV could be involved. 189 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: Closed circuit TV is the early term for what we'd 190 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: call pay per view TV, and it was changing everything. 191 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: The early nineteen seventies are not often credited as an 192 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: exciting time for technology, but back in the early seventies 193 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: folks were witnesses to a revolution in how the world communicated, 194 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: and you better believe when it all goes down. Don 195 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: King sees how he can leverage all this new tech 196 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: to win power, fame, and big profits. 197 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 5: Don combines these unique and I think very American talents. 198 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 5: He's park gangster, he's part khn man, and he's part visionary, 199 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 5: and the brilliance in the bullshit come together in a 200 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 5: way no one's ever seen before in Don King. 201 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: On October fourth, nineteen fifty seven, the Soviet Union launched 202 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: the first satellite into space, marking the beginning of the 203 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: space race, which in turn launched a wave of invention 204 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: and innovation that came to be called the telecom revolution. 205 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: Think satellites, cable TV, and pay per view events. International 206 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: jet travel was also this super cool new thing, and 207 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: so as the airlines were busy stitching the world together, 208 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: so was satellite technology. And thus, before the Internet, it 209 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:17,839 Speaker 1: was international travel and telecom in nineteen seventy four. That's 210 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 1: the cutting edge of human connection and marks the birth 211 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: of new international markets. Fight promoters could now put on 212 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: world class heavyweight fights in distant foreign locations and beam 213 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: the footage of the event back home and to folks 214 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: all around the world. Its importance can be easy to 215 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: overlook now, but this marks an enormous innovation. Fights can 216 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: now be watched live on movie screens and in theaters 217 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: and event venues like Madison Square Garden in New York 218 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: or The Forum in LA Audiences can pay top dollar 219 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: to watch the fight and feel that crowd experience in 220 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: multiple cities as they all roar in cheer as won 221 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 1: after the champion raises his fifths in victory. In nineteen 222 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 1: seventy three, a man named Hank Schwartz and his partners 223 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: for the company Video Techniques are positioned as front runners 224 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 1: with this new satellite tech. They know they have a 225 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: short window to corner the market, and so they take 226 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: a chance on a brash new partner like Don King. 227 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: As author Lewis Ehrenberg describes it. 228 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 8: Schwartz is dealing with the technical aspects and the promotional 229 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 8: aspects and raising the money Initially for the fight, which 230 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 8: was difficult. King is able to really lock down the 231 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 8: fighters gain their respect. 232 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: That's the plan. So Schwartz and his partners invite Don 233 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: King to come down to Kingston, Jamaica to join them 234 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: for the Frasier Foreman fight on January twenty second, nineteen 235 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: seventy three. Don King does go. This is the moment 236 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: when he comes in with one champion and he leaves 237 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: with a different champion. Remember that finesse move and that 238 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: choice is when Don King becomes a fixture in the 239 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 1: boxing world. During the weeks leading up to the rumble 240 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: in the Jungle Fight in Zyere, photographer Lynn Goldsmith and 241 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: pr man Gary Stromberg both had personal interactions with Don King, 242 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: and as they recall, they both came away with strong 243 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: opinions of the Cleveland hustler. 244 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 12: Unfortunately, from the second I met John King, I didn't 245 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 12: like him, and I mean I liked his showmanship, but 246 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 12: I felt he was a sister, you know, in the 247 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 12: same way that I felt the guy that managed Elvis was. 248 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 12: You know, he was a showman, and he was also 249 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 12: a scoundrel. Because the fight game, like other industries, has 250 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 12: a lot of people who take advantage of other people. 251 00:15:57,720 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: Did you have any interaction with King? 252 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 12: He's always nice to me. I mean, he didn't like 253 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 12: I just thought, oh, it's so job and you not 254 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 12: see this. 255 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: Gary, gearing up to promote the festival, did some research 256 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: on King. 257 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 13: I knew him by reputation, being a big boxing fan. 258 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 13: I knew his story and I had actually checked up 259 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 13: on him before because I just want to know as 260 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 13: much about him as I could. And it was a 261 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 13: real character and not to be trusted. That was certain, 262 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 13: And fortunately I didn't have to deal with him very much. 263 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: Those who did not deal with don King directly often 264 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: felt differently about him. 265 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 7: Donkey, he's incredible. Oh my god, the way I still understand, 266 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 7: the way he's able to spin his yarns and I 267 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 7: mean incredibly persuasive. But he's also, you know, very forceful. 268 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: That's our pal. Jeffrey Kusama hinte again. He was the 269 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 1: editor of the Academy Award winning film about the Rumble 270 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: in the Jungle When We Were Kings, and the director 271 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: of the concert film called Soul Power about the music 272 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: Festival Zaire seventy four, and for those films he studied 273 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: all of the major players for the two events chief 274 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:11,880 Speaker 1: among them, Don King. 275 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 7: Well, Don King is one of those fascinating people that 276 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 7: you know, they kind of speak in paragraphs and very lyrically. 277 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 7: It doesn't always make sense, but it seems to make sense. 278 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 7: We never saw it on camera. But you don't want 279 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,360 Speaker 7: to anger him, you know, you don't want to cross him. 280 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,160 Speaker 7: But Ali wasn't afraid of him. 281 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: That's probably because Ali understood that Don King would never 282 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: harm his golden goose, not as long as the magical 283 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: bird was laying those glittery eggs. 284 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 7: There's another great scene with him with. 285 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: Masls as in Albert Masels, one of the documentary making pair, 286 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: the Mazles brothers who were there part of the film 287 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:54,880 Speaker 1: crew in Zaire So, as Jeffrey calls Don King, was you're. 288 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 7: Sound about diversity, Like, well, look, these crews are white, 289 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 7: you know, and we're never going to be able to 290 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,719 Speaker 7: create a better world if we just sort of are 291 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 7: exclusive in this way. And Mazls is sort of trying 292 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 7: to like say, now I hear you, and you know 293 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 7: what can we do? 294 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: That opens the floodgates for the verbal deluge that is 295 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:15,400 Speaker 1: Don King. 296 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,440 Speaker 7: Don King goes on this extended monologue about how Masls 297 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 7: and everybody else really needs to mentor and really needs 298 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 7: to engage, and it's incredibly important, or we're never going 299 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 7: to have societal change. And it's such an interesting thing 300 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 7: because it sounds very sincere, and I guess it is, 301 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,880 Speaker 7: but also it's somewhat manipulative at the same time, which 302 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 7: is Don King. He's always working an angle. 303 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: It is indeed very don King to use societal change 304 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 1: and the uplift of people to make money. 305 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 7: I mean, there's a reason why he was so successful. 306 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,640 Speaker 7: He's incredibly smart and charismatic. But he had a kind 307 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:53,840 Speaker 7: of menacing quality. 308 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: That menacing quality wasn't affront The menace was all the 309 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: way real. Gary Stromberg recalled how we always had to 310 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: keep in mind I. 311 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 13: Have a big mouth, so I'm leary about you where 312 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:08,680 Speaker 13: my mouth can get me in trouble. So I knew 313 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 13: that I shouldn't be around Don King. That wouldn't go 314 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 13: well for me. 315 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 1: Gary also recalls Don King's rare genius for work in 316 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: an angle. 317 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 13: This was his major hustle. He just did an incredible 318 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 13: job bringing the two of them together. 319 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: It's no understatement to say Don King was like no 320 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: one else, or that Don King comes first. 321 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 13: Don King uses people, and it was always you know 322 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 13: what's in it for Don King? He's just really a 323 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 13: good hustler in a con man. 324 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: A Selema Masekela sums it up. 325 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:44,719 Speaker 6: Don King was masterful at creating spectacle. 326 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: But he also must point out that Don King. 327 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 3: Was a crook. 328 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 6: And that's my thoughts on Don King. 329 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: To keep it clear as a freshly cleaned pane of glass, 330 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: Sealemma Masekela is no fan of Don King. 331 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 6: If my father was right now and still alive, he'd 332 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 6: be saying it ten thousand times worse. Asked Don King 333 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 6: where the rest of the money is from? Zaire asked 334 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:10,439 Speaker 6: Don King? 335 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:15,200 Speaker 1: Way to Checkshaw, that's all to come. But first, who 336 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: really is Don King? Born and raised during the Great 337 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: Depression in Cleveland, Ohio, Don King was one of six children, 338 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: the son of Clarence and Hattie King. He was partially 339 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: raised by his older siblings after his father died while 340 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: working in one of the city's many steel mills. Donald 341 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: was just ten years old. This tragic event split Don 342 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: King's childhood into two. The time before the industrial accident, 343 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: and then there was the time after. 344 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 3: My father died. In nineteen forty one on December seventh, ironically, 345 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:02,119 Speaker 3: right at the time the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbook in Cleveland. 346 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 3: He got consumed by hot molten steel in the oldest 347 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 3: steel plant of Jones and Laughlin, where he was a 348 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,640 Speaker 3: laborer pulling the plug on the ladles that came down 349 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 3: the line with hot steel in them. The plug stuck 350 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:21,680 Speaker 3: and the ladle exploded, and the hot steel just consumed them. 351 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: King's mother received a payout from the company and moved 352 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,639 Speaker 1: her children out of their old neighborhood and into the 353 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: new suburban neighborhoods being built outside Cleveland. But at this point, 354 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: Don King's family was already deep into street crime. The 355 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:41,360 Speaker 1: numbers game the illegal street version of the lottery. Actually, 356 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: this is what became of a system created by marginalized 357 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: groups in the early nineteen hundreds. It was their attempt 358 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: at participating in the American economy, as they were intentionally 359 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: excluded from the stock market and other investment opportunities offered 360 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: to white folks. By the time Don King came around, 361 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: this game had gone through many iterations, but was still illegal. 362 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: It also now went by many other names, like the 363 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:11,359 Speaker 1: numbers racket, the Irish lottery, the Italian lottery, whatever you 364 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: want to call it. It's gambling now. Don King's older 365 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: brother was a numbers runner for the members of the 366 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 1: Cleveland mafia, and he showed Don King how to make 367 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: bank in the street game. So by the time most 368 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: men his age were in college, Don King was the 369 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 1: numbers king of Cleveland. Everyone knew it. Cops and criminals alike. 370 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 1: That was the Don King way. 371 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 5: Gangster or not. King had the biggest set of balls, 372 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 5: maybe anyone in boxing not named Muhammad Ali. 373 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: At one point, Don King had wanted to leave the 374 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: street life behind and go off to college. 375 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 5: If he had been straight, it would have been you know, 376 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 5: Horatio Alitar, but he was crooked. 377 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: His plans for higher education went awry after a huge 378 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,479 Speaker 1: bet hit the winning number and Don King had to 379 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: personally pay the winner, which drained his college savings. So 380 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: Don King quit school and stayed with crime. Lucky for him, 381 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: he was good at it. Sportswriter Mark Kriegel calls him fearless, 382 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: telling of a time when he stood up against a really. 383 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 5: Feared guy in Cleveland named Schondor Burns, this old school 384 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 5: Jewish guy, and he had a silk wardrobe. In prison, 385 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 5: he was always taken care of and everyone was scared 386 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 5: to death of Schondor Burns, including the Big four Numbers guys, 387 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 5: and they all paid him tribute after Schondor got out 388 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:38,399 Speaker 5: of prison. 389 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: You see, the Numbers game was like most street crime, 390 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: there was only so much room at the top. Don 391 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 1: King was up there. He was close to the top, 392 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: one of the so called Big four in Cleveland back 393 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty seven. But they all still had to 394 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 1: pay their respects to the big boss, Schondor Burns give 395 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,160 Speaker 1: him a piece of their action. 396 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:02,680 Speaker 5: And it's a pretty steep tax, and no one thought 397 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 5: about not paying until in nineteen fifty seven, King said, 398 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 5: fuck this, I'm not paying. 399 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: And Don King knew full well and good that would 400 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:12,760 Speaker 1: invite payback. 401 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 5: So Schandor fire bombed his home, the whole front porch. 402 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,479 Speaker 1: But Don King he remains unfazed. 403 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 5: And he gets on the phone. He calls the head 404 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 5: of vice and he says, I'll testify, and he does, 405 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,160 Speaker 5: even though in the lead up to that trial they 406 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,679 Speaker 5: shoot at him and they hit him shotgun pellates, they 407 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 5: don't kill him, but he still testifies. So I got 408 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 5: to hand it to King for that sense of ambition 409 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 5: and that sense of real nerve. 410 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,679 Speaker 3: I was a big man in the numbers racket, a 411 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 3: hustler extraordinarily. To put that in its proper perspective, you 412 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,919 Speaker 3: have to first realize that numbers in my community is 413 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 3: like bingo in the white community. 414 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,159 Speaker 1: Leaving the numbers game in any flamboyant yet murderous mobsters aside. 415 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,439 Speaker 1: Don King makes it sound like gambling is his worst crime, 416 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: but that's not entirely true. Don King he once killed 417 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: a man. In fact, he killed two men. First time 418 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: it was ruled self defense. On December second, nineteen fifty four, 419 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: a man broke in and robbed a house that Don 420 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 1: King owned, a spot that was long rumored to be 421 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: an underground gambling den. When things turned sour and weapons 422 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: came out, Don King's aim was better. He shot and 423 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 1: killed the man. The detectives came out, investigated, and ruled 424 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:46,360 Speaker 1: it justifiable homicide, or as we'd call it, self defense. 425 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: There are some who'd say Don King literally got away 426 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:55,640 Speaker 1: with murder. Twelve years later, on April twentieth, nineteen sixty six, 427 00:25:56,119 --> 00:26:00,760 Speaker 1: there was another incident. This time he wasn't so as 428 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: Lewis Ehrenberg puts it. 429 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 8: Basically, he beats to death a one of his number 430 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 8: runners who he thinks is cheating him. 431 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: On the take, Don King hired a man who'd been 432 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 1: released from prison. The two men got into a scuffle 433 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: in front of eyewitnesses. Don King beat the man nearly 434 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,639 Speaker 1: to death on a Cleveland sidewalk. 435 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 3: I got into a fight with a friend who expired 436 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 3: several days later. I was neither the provocateur nor the instigator, 437 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 3: but I was arrested anyhow. 438 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: Don King again claimed self defense. But you see, Don 439 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,920 Speaker 1: King's a big man, and the ex con he'd stomped 440 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,480 Speaker 1: to death weighed about one hundred pounds less than King. 441 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,680 Speaker 1: As my pops recalled, Don King's defense was laughable. 442 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 3: At best explanation. But the man fell against the curb 443 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 3: and hit it here repeatedly. 444 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: On February twenty third, nineteen sixty seven, Don King was tried, convicted, 445 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: and found guilty of second degree murder with the possibility 446 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: of a life sentence, But he slipped out of that somehow. 447 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 3: So now here I am. I've been convicted of second 448 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,120 Speaker 3: degree murder, but my case has been mitigated to manslaughter. 449 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 3: The prosecutor never appealed my lawyers say, man, we got it. 450 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 3: But my fear of the American system of justice was 451 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 3: so strong, I said I can't take the chance. I 452 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 3: had a pretty good record. I didn't want to go 453 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 3: to jail, but I felt if I did go and 454 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 3: was a model citizen, I could get out on parole 455 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 3: in eleven months. But if I appealed and failed, I 456 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 3: might wind up with ten. 457 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: Years facing this bleak outcome. Don King leveraged all the 458 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: legitimate and underworld connections he had in Cleveland, and then 459 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:53,880 Speaker 1: a judge overruled the murder conviction and downgraded it to manslaughter. 460 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:57,440 Speaker 1: Don King later told The New York Times. 461 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,400 Speaker 3: He did something that really gave me a whole new 462 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 3: insight into America and white people. I had the anger 463 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 3: in the rage in me as all blacks had. This 464 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 3: judge said this was a gross miscarriage of justice. He 465 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 3: said the most of the charge could be was a 466 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 3: manslaughter charge. He said no murder verdict could be substantiated 467 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 3: without intent, So he says, I'm taking this verdict out 468 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 3: of the jury's hands. 469 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: King was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter, 470 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: sent to Marion Correctional Institute, locked up. The former numbers. 471 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: King of Cleveland found he had time to do something 472 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: he hadn't done much of since school. He read, and 473 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,040 Speaker 1: he read and he read some more. Just like George 474 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: Foreman out in Oregon, Don King found a whole new 475 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: world and new outlook in the pages of books. Don 476 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: King was a particular fan of writers who liked to 477 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: consider men's paths of power, Shakespeare, Marx, Nietzsche, and he 478 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: was a lover of the writings of the ancient Greeks. 479 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: King said of his time in prison, I had one. 480 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 3: Of the most delightful times, if I may say, under 481 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 3: desperate conditions, reading about Demosthenes and Perracles, their Socrates, and 482 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 3: speeches by William Jennings Bryant. And the words still stand 483 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 3: today as strong as they was thousands of years ago. 484 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: On March eighth, nineteen seventy one, Don King took a 485 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: break from his prison reading to join all the other inmates. 486 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 1: They gathered around a radio to listen to the announcers 487 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: call the first Ali Fraser fight that we talked about 488 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: in episode four, the Fight of the Century. Don King 489 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,520 Speaker 1: watched as his fellow prisoners listened close, hanging on the 490 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: announcers every word they picked sides, engaging in the drama 491 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: of the fight, rooting for their man. But Don King 492 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: he heard the whole fight, the announcers, the crowd, the inmates' reactions, 493 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: the whole picture unfolded before him, a cultural event, a 494 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: colossal battle, and being a street hustler. He also heard 495 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: a cash register. This fight, this was the sound of 496 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 1: his future. He just didn't know it yet. On September thirtieth, 497 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, Don King walked out of his prison 498 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: cell for the last time. He felt son on his face, 499 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,240 Speaker 1: and he knew he was free. He was forty years old. 500 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,840 Speaker 1: A year later, back in Cleveland, Don King returns to 501 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: small time crime. He becomes the owner operator of a 502 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 1: club called The Corner Tavern. The Aging R and B 503 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: frontman Lloyd Price is booked as the house band, and coincidentally, 504 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: Lloyd Price is friends with Muhammad Ali. 505 00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 4: Lloyd Price was a popular singer and songwriter at He 506 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 4: had met Ali when Ali was just a kid in Louisville. 507 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,719 Speaker 4: Ali had actually come up to Lloyd Price after one 508 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 4: of his shows at a club in Louisville and asked him, like, 509 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 4: you know how to become a star, and I think 510 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 4: Lloyd Price took an interest in the kit that he 511 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 4: showed a lot of ambition, and he had a lot 512 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 4: of charisma, and probably just assumed that he was never 513 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 4: going to hear from the kid again. 514 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: But of course Lloyd Price would see Ali again on 515 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 1: the world stage. And then one day Don King asked 516 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 1: Price to invite Muhammad Ali and see if he'll come 517 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: out to Cleveland to box at a benefit. 518 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,720 Speaker 3: I sponsored a benefit for a black hospital in Cleveland 519 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,640 Speaker 3: and called on Muhammad to help me. He boxed ten 520 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 3: rounds with four different guys. We raised eighty two thousand, 521 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:44,280 Speaker 3: five hundred dollars. 522 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: The charity bout took place on August twenty eighth, nineteen 523 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: seventy two. It's a spectacular event. Not only was Muhammad 524 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 1: Ali in the ring boxing against local boxers, there's also 525 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 1: a runway fashion show and to cap it off, there's 526 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: a concert. The show is headlined by a list stars 527 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: Marvin Gay, Wilson Pickett, and Lou Rawls. It's Don King's 528 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: first attempt at creating a cultural event and it's a 529 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: huge success, but mostly for Don King. He pocketed twice 530 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: as much money from this benefit as the hospital did, 531 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:26,320 Speaker 1: which sadly still closed a few years later. Meanwhile, the 532 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 1: boxing match, the concert at the Runway Fashion Show, they 533 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: all gave Don King ideas, many ideas, stupendous, magnificent, splendiferous ideas. 534 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: As Lewis Ehrenberg sums it up, Don King. 535 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 8: Comes out of prison a person who wants to do better, 536 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 8: and boxing seems a place where a black businessman could 537 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 8: maybe gain a foothold. And at the same time, this 538 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 8: is when most of the heavyweight champions and some at 539 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 8: the lesser divisions are more and more African American, and 540 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 8: to do bissiness with them, you need somebody who can 541 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 8: speak their language and who can be taken seriously by them. 542 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 8: And there's some doubt that white businessman and promoters can 543 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 8: do that. 544 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 5: The famous line about King don talks black lives, white 545 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 5: thinks green. 546 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 8: He's a symbol of black success. I mean a lot 547 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 8: of people criticized Don King, and I would say rightfully so, 548 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 8: because he could be exploitative as any white promoter. But 549 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:35,239 Speaker 8: in the early days, he is a symbol of the 550 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 8: African American success story, somebody who was in the board 551 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 8: room and the back stage of the boxing business in 552 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 8: a way that if any African Americans had ever been 553 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 8: able to enter, and so he's really critical. 554 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: Don King is a mover, a shaker, a promoter, a producer, 555 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: a super connector, and, as he'd say, a hustle of supreme. 556 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: Bad as he may be, he's also the guy that 557 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: makes things happen. 558 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 5: However, larcenous King was this fight, the Rumbling the Jungle 559 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 5: does not get made without his immense ego and ambition. 560 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,799 Speaker 1: Despite Don King's tenacity, it was actually Muhammad al Lee 561 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:31,880 Speaker 1: who first reached out to Don King about working together, 562 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,200 Speaker 1: thanks to their mutual connection Lloyd Price. On December fourteenth, 563 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,720 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, one of Don King's fighters, a heavyweight 564 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 1: named Ernie Shavers, lost to a fellow contender, Jerry Quarry, 565 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 1: and Muhammad al Li saw the result of the fight. 566 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 1: The very next day, Ali calls Don King to commiserate, 567 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,280 Speaker 1: and Don King hears his moment of opportunity. He says 568 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: about that champ, and then King lays out his proposal 569 00:34:58,600 --> 00:34:59,840 Speaker 1: of a Foreman fight. 570 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 3: To So we were talking along and I said, hey, 571 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 3: why don't you let me promote your next fight? So 572 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 3: we talked about it. 573 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:12,600 Speaker 1: Ali listens to his new friend but he's reluctant because 574 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,440 Speaker 1: Ali he wants a rematch with Joe Fraser. 575 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:18,719 Speaker 2: Man, I gotta fight that Fraser again. I can't make 576 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:20,440 Speaker 2: any plans. 577 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 1: Because his match against Fraser, the Fight of the Century, 578 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:28,000 Speaker 1: was his first loss, the first humiliating loss Ali ever 579 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:32,400 Speaker 1: experienced in the ring. As a pro. Ali's enormous ego 580 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:36,319 Speaker 1: won't let him forget or move on. Ali knows he'll 581 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 1: have to fight Foreman, but first, Ali wants his revenge 582 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,799 Speaker 1: on Joe Fraser. But Don King just keeps talking. He 583 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,359 Speaker 1: plays on Ali's faith, the strength of his convictions. 584 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 3: Remember the Kuran said the black man will lead the 585 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 3: world out of darkness. Elijah says, we are at the 586 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:57,760 Speaker 3: turning point of history. Man, you can't run from this. 587 00:35:57,760 --> 00:35:59,480 Speaker 3: This is destiny. Baby. 588 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,799 Speaker 1: King convinces Ali to look beyond Joe Frasier, to expand 589 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: his thinking, to focus on the championship and George Foreman. 590 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 3: Ali pucket up his nose and smiled, Okay, Judge, you've 591 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:15,840 Speaker 3: got me, Now go get George. 592 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 1: Ali had one other requirement. King would have to come 593 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:25,560 Speaker 1: to terms with Ali's manager, Herbert Muhammad. Ali promises he'll 594 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: set up a time to speak with Don King. If 595 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,680 Speaker 1: the nation of Islam wants to do business with Don King, 596 00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:36,319 Speaker 1: then Ali's down. Now. All Don King has to do 597 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 1: is smooth talk. The son of Elijah Muhammad, a man 598 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:44,320 Speaker 1: who's also famously cunningly manipulative himself. 599 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,440 Speaker 3: Went to Herbert Muhammad and I appealed to Herbert Muhammed. 600 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 3: Herbert told me you must deliver. You can't just say 601 00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:58,319 Speaker 3: this thing and where you go get this money? And 602 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 3: I say that part lee to me. I say, I 603 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 3: believe his destiny, and I believe that God has put 604 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 3: me here to do it. And I said, you must 605 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,680 Speaker 3: give me the chance because your father said and his 606 00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:16,360 Speaker 3: holy words, that you find a black man comparable to 607 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,839 Speaker 3: a white man and doing his duties. If you don't 608 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:22,319 Speaker 3: give the black man a chance, how will he ever 609 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 3: get the chance. 610 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: Don King alludes to Ali's fight promoter at the time, 611 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,759 Speaker 1: Bob Aram, the man who runs Madison Square Garden, the 612 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 1: home to heavyweight boxing's biggest fight nights. Don King's trying 613 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 1: to peel Ali away from Bob Aram and do it 614 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:44,480 Speaker 1: with Herbert Muhammad's blessing as his manager. This is when 615 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 1: things really get dramatic. The story goes Don King is 616 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 1: at Herbert Mohammad's apartment in New York, the same apartment 617 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,520 Speaker 1: that Bob Aram paid for, So Herbert Muhammad always had 618 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 1: a nice pot of his own. When he was in Manhattan, 619 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:05,799 Speaker 1: Don King's there. He's working his angle, trying to get 620 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 1: a contract signed to promote the Ali Foreman fight. But 621 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: before Don King can get it done, Bob Aram and 622 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 1: his partner Teddy Brenner, the other main fight promoter from 623 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 1: Madison Square Garden, show up at Herbert Mohammad's apartment. 624 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 5: When they're trying to make forman ALI At some point, 625 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:28,880 Speaker 5: Teddy Brenner and Bob Aarm go to Herbert Muhammad's apartment 626 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:31,839 Speaker 5: in the city in Manhattan, and they wanted to fight 627 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 5: Jerry Quarry at the Garden. 628 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,440 Speaker 1: When King hears they're downstairs and coming up, he knows 629 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: if they find him there, all his finagling and finessing 630 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:45,640 Speaker 1: will likely come to nothing. So what does Don King do? 631 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,320 Speaker 1: He hides in the bathroom, but fellow fight promoters Teddy 632 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:53,359 Speaker 1: Brenner and Bob Aerm aren't stupid. Mark Kriegel gives us 633 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:54,560 Speaker 1: the backstory. 634 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,600 Speaker 5: So reportedly Renner says, Hey, don I know you're hiding 635 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,719 Speaker 5: in here, somewhere, your son of a bitch, come out now. 636 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:05,400 Speaker 1: Don King knows he's technically not caught until he comes 637 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,600 Speaker 1: out of the bathroom. Until then, it's all supposition, but 638 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:12,880 Speaker 1: he was definitely in there hiding. The other two fight promoters, 639 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 1: Bob Aerm and Teddy Brenner, eventually lose their patience. Teddy 640 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 1: Brenner pipes up and he. 641 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,280 Speaker 5: Says, hey, if you can get the five million dollars, 642 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:21,880 Speaker 5: god bless you. 643 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:24,080 Speaker 1: Like this is crazy, but if you. 644 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:27,160 Speaker 5: Can actually get these guys five million dollars, god bless you. 645 00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:31,839 Speaker 1: After he and Bob Aram leave, Don King emerges from 646 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:34,799 Speaker 1: the bathroom, he gets right back to business. The two 647 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,760 Speaker 1: men seal the deal. He uses the promise of five 648 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,880 Speaker 1: million dollars to hold Herbert Mohammad's full interest. 649 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:46,520 Speaker 3: He said, I'm gonna give you some time, and if 650 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:50,040 Speaker 3: you deliver, you've got it. If you don't, I got 651 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,319 Speaker 3: to know where the money is because I have to 652 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:56,160 Speaker 3: protect my fighter. My fighter is the most important thing. 653 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:00,960 Speaker 1: And then Don King triumphantly tells the New York Times. 654 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:04,440 Speaker 3: It happens because I have faith. I have faith in 655 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:10,040 Speaker 3: the American people that that people are my most important asset. 656 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,640 Speaker 3: I feel in life, there are only guys that are 657 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,920 Speaker 3: endowed with the talent by their creator that can do 658 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:21,520 Speaker 3: things that will really make people respect what is being done. 659 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:24,600 Speaker 3: So I might say there's only been three really giant 660 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:28,800 Speaker 3: promoters in our lifetime. There's Michael Todd and PT Bonham 661 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:30,080 Speaker 3: and yours. 662 00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:30,440 Speaker 5: Truly. 663 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 1: Now, Don King has Ali and that's all he needs. 664 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:40,279 Speaker 1: He can hustle the rest. Still, it is not a 665 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,759 Speaker 1: simple task to get the two fighters in the same ring. 666 00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:47,960 Speaker 1: Don King has to fly out to California to see 667 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:52,160 Speaker 1: Foreman and make the same in person five million dollar offer, 668 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:56,160 Speaker 1: but Foreman avoids them, so Don King camps out in 669 00:40:56,200 --> 00:41:00,760 Speaker 1: the lobby of Foreman's hotel. His plan basically is to Foreman. 670 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:04,600 Speaker 1: When he passes through, Don King waits, and he waits 671 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:08,640 Speaker 1: with the patience of a sniper for three days. On 672 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 1: the third day, he spots Foreman returning from a workout. 673 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:15,799 Speaker 1: Don King approaches. Foreman is friendly, Hello. 674 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,680 Speaker 3: Don what are you doing here? I gotta talk to you? 675 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:23,240 Speaker 3: What about a fight with our lead for five million? 676 00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:27,400 Speaker 3: Forget it? Come on, George, Let's take a walk along 677 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:28,160 Speaker 3: the beach. 678 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:35,000 Speaker 1: Together along with Foreman's Doberman pincher. The two men stroll 679 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,440 Speaker 1: along the beach, and Don King continues his pitch. 680 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:43,440 Speaker 3: This fight will make an impact on the world. It's symbolic, 681 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:46,319 Speaker 3: we can show the world that blacks can stage a 682 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:48,800 Speaker 3: big event with sophistication and dignity. 683 00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:53,359 Speaker 1: That angle doesn't really matter to Foreman, so Don King 684 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:57,520 Speaker 1: tries a new angle. The two men walk and talk 685 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:02,440 Speaker 1: for two more hours, and Don King finally persuades Foreman 686 00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:05,040 Speaker 1: that he can trust him. When they reach the hotel 687 00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:11,239 Speaker 1: parking lot, Foreman tells him, you got me. As Don 688 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:15,040 Speaker 1: King later summarized the experience, it was all. 689 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:20,319 Speaker 3: Done with a handshake, no involved contracts, no lawyers, no 690 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:23,840 Speaker 3: men with black satchels getting into the act. It was 691 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:30,400 Speaker 3: man against man, blacks and blacks trust, just trust. 692 00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:35,640 Speaker 1: But true to Form, that's not the full story. There 693 00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:40,680 Speaker 1: is also, quite famously a blank contract involved, which certainly 694 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,520 Speaker 1: speaks to the trust between Don King and Foreman. 695 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:45,719 Speaker 4: They're walking around in a parking lot and King is 696 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:48,200 Speaker 4: trying to convince George Form to agree to this fight 697 00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:52,320 Speaker 4: with Alidy and says, trust me, I'll work out the details. 698 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,600 Speaker 4: He hands them a bunch of pages of blank paper. 699 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:57,839 Speaker 1: On one sheet of blank paper, he has Foreman signed 700 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:01,480 Speaker 1: real low on the page, on another, say, three quarters 701 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:03,600 Speaker 1: of the way down, and on another around, say in 702 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,480 Speaker 1: the middle of the blank piece of paper. Don King 703 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:10,279 Speaker 1: tells Forman, He'll have his lawyers draw up the final contract. 704 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:12,399 Speaker 4: And depending on how long the contract comes out, I'll 705 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:15,120 Speaker 4: use the signature that fits best on the page. 706 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:19,200 Speaker 1: Don King is asking Foreman to sign a blank contract. 707 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:20,840 Speaker 1: In the wildest part. 708 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:23,239 Speaker 4: At George Foreman goes for it. He just signs all 709 00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:25,759 Speaker 4: of these blank sheets of paper. And that tells me 710 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,960 Speaker 4: something about the power of persuasion that Don King had. 711 00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:33,080 Speaker 5: Only Don King can get a fighter to sign seven 712 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 5: blank sheets of paper, But that, by King's own acknowledgment, 713 00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:40,000 Speaker 5: is what enabled him to make the fightings I hear. 714 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,200 Speaker 1: The rumble in the Jungle was never going to be 715 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:49,520 Speaker 1: easy to pull off. There was the challenge of getting 716 00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:53,400 Speaker 1: the money together. There was dealing with Mabutu, a corrupt 717 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,680 Speaker 1: dictator who clearly had an agenda of his own. And 718 00:43:56,719 --> 00:44:01,080 Speaker 1: then there were all the other immense egos involved Muhammad Ali, 719 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:05,960 Speaker 1: George Foreman, Don King. These are all egos that rank 720 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:09,319 Speaker 1: off the charts. And this is all before the unforeseen 721 00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:14,280 Speaker 1: circumstances that are bound to arise even for the smooth talking, 722 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:16,080 Speaker 1: ever confident Don King. 723 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:20,839 Speaker 3: It was Cliffhanger. At the Cliffhanger, there were so many 724 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:23,440 Speaker 3: crisis and they haven't quit yet. 725 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:27,879 Speaker 1: And as if all of that wasn't hard enough, Don King, 726 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:32,360 Speaker 1: with the help of Lloyd Price, decides to throw more razzle, 727 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:37,160 Speaker 1: more spectacle, and more egos into the mix by coordinating 728 00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:41,319 Speaker 1: a colossal three day music festival that would accompany his 729 00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:42,600 Speaker 1: stupendous fight. 730 00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:46,200 Speaker 4: Don King, of course, sees an opportunity here to expand 731 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:48,560 Speaker 4: his power and to bring in even more money and 732 00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:51,640 Speaker 4: to try to make this into an even bigger global event. 733 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:57,280 Speaker 1: The first lineup that was announced featured Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, 734 00:44:57,719 --> 00:45:02,000 Speaker 1: sly Stone, Gladys Night and the Pips. But Don King's 735 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:06,480 Speaker 1: cash and his cultural cachet only went so far. None 736 00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:11,160 Speaker 1: of these acts actually made it to Zaire. King did, however, 737 00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:15,840 Speaker 1: manage to secure quite a pair of other Kings, namely 738 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:20,760 Speaker 1: blues Man BB King and the King of Soul James Brown. 739 00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:24,799 Speaker 4: It's like you know, Woodstock for Africa. 740 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:29,959 Speaker 1: On the next episode of Rumble. 741 00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:33,400 Speaker 8: They once were slaves and now look they trod the 742 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:37,360 Speaker 8: earth as giants of culture, music, sport. 743 00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:42,160 Speaker 4: He recognizes that these dictators would love the opportunity to 744 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:43,120 Speaker 4: host a heavyweight fight. 745 00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:46,720 Speaker 13: Stewart and Hewitt came up with the idea for Zayre 746 00:45:47,040 --> 00:45:48,959 Speaker 13: for the festival. I signed up right away. 747 00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:53,120 Speaker 11: He worked with musicians from all over the continent, and 748 00:45:53,200 --> 00:45:56,000 Speaker 11: each different country had a different sound. 749 00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,839 Speaker 14: Rumble is a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts. 750 00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:06,080 Speaker 14: Rumbl is written and hosted by Zarren Burnett. The third 751 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:10,480 Speaker 14: produced and directed by Julia Chriscau. Sound design and scoring 752 00:46:10,560 --> 00:46:16,240 Speaker 14: by Jesse Niswanger. Original music composed by Jordan Manley and t. J. Merritt. 753 00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:21,880 Speaker 14: Series concept by Gary Stromberg. Executive producers are Jason English, 754 00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:27,480 Speaker 14: Sean Titone, Gary Stromberg, Virginia Prescott, L. C. Crowley, and 755 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,520 Speaker 14: Brandon barr Our. Senior producer is Amelia Brock, Production manager 756 00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:36,239 Speaker 14: Daisy Church, fact checker Savannah Hugley. Legal services provided by 757 00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:41,480 Speaker 14: Canoell Hanley PC. Additional production by Claire Keating and John Washington. 758 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:47,720 Speaker 14: Casting director Julia Christcau. Casting support services provided by Breakdown Express. 759 00:46:47,719 --> 00:46:53,880 Speaker 15: Episode six cast Abraham Amka as Muhammad Ali, Terence Flint 760 00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:58,440 Speaker 15: as Don King, John Washington as news reporter, Julia Chriscau 761 00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:01,799 Speaker 15: as news Reporter Special thanks to Lewis Ehrenberg. 762 00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:04,320 Speaker 16: Check out his book Rumble in the Jungle. It's a 763 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:08,240 Speaker 16: great resource. Also thanks to Jonathan I for his book 764 00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:13,040 Speaker 16: Ali a Life. And finally thanks to Zarenz pops Zeke 765 00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:16,239 Speaker 16: who grounds this material like no one else. If you 766 00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:19,759 Speaker 16: like the show, let us know, like subscribe, leave five 767 00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:23,560 Speaker 16: star reviews. It really helps. Also check out our show 768 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:26,440 Speaker 16: notes for a full list of reference materials.