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Don King’s Return to Atlantic City Made for a Press Conference Unlike Any Other

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23 years ago today, on Dec. 5, 1998, Johnny Tapia challenged WBA bantamweight champion Nana Yaw Konadu of Ghana at the brand-new Atlantic City Convention Hall. The details of the fight have faded from my memory, but not so the bizarre pre-fight press conference in which bombastic promoter Don King, returning to Atlantic City after an eight-year enforced absence, so dominated the podium that he completely overshadowed the main event, a matchup misleadingly billed as Tapia’s first East Coast ring appearance.

After finally getting his turn to hype a bout that seemingly was more of an excuse for having King’s “I’m back!” press conference, a perplexed Tapia, who two nights later would go on annex Konadu’s title on a 12-round majority decision, told reporters, “I don’t understand this. I mean, I’m the one who’s fighting, right?”

Well, yes, that would be technically correct. But Tapia, a recent and ultimately temporary addition to the DKP stable, really should not have been all that surprised by being cast in the role of setup man to the publicity-loving impresario with the electrified hairdo. It generally was standard procedure for King fighters, before stepping up to the microphone to discuss their upcoming bout, to dutifully pledge fealty to someone who immodestly liked to call himself “the world’s greatest promoter.”

Even if the embattled King was in the process of losing some his most marketable attractions, most prominently Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez and Felix Trinidad (Chavez and Trinidad would return to the fold), his supporters saw the end of his nearly-decade-long legal fight with the federal government as a triumph worthy of celebration.

“Don was found to be guilty without a trial by individuals in Atlantic City,” said Showtime executive Jay Larkin, now deceased, whose premium-cable company televised Konadu-Tapia and the co-featured pairing of newly crowned WBA welterweight champion James Page and top-ranked Jose Luis Lopez. “It was wrong. You can’t be denied the right to make a living while you’re under indictment.”

Earlier in 1998, King found himself under federal indictment for the third time in the decade. As still another court battle dragged on, boxing’s premier cash cow, Tyson, filed a $100 million lawsuit against King in March, claiming that DK had illegally siphoned 50% of Tyson’s estimated $150 million in earnings since the former heavyweight champion’s release from prison. Not only that, but Chavez had gone over to King’s arch-rival, Top Rank founder Bob Arum, and Trinidad signed with Dino Duva, citing a rollover clause in his contract with King that had rendered his services to something akin to indentured servitude.

But when the feds threw up their hands and surrendered after so many attempts to nail their quarry for insurance fraud, King stopped playing defense. And he would initiate his counterattack in Atlantic City, site of some of his greatest triumphs and also of his most stinging rebuke.

“I am like Lazarus coming out of the belly of the whale like Jonah, because you can’t cook with cold grease,” he harrumphed during a lengthy diatribe in which he quoted, among others, Thomas Jefferson, St. Thomas Aquinas, Henry Ford and Henry David Thoreau. “You got to turn on the stove.

“I’m not a whiner, I’m a winner. My thought was to work within the system to clear my name, which is what has happened. Who knows, maybe something good will come from this. Maybe an unreasonable situation will be corrected for those who come after me. Maybe the rule will be revisited, reassessed and eradicated, and removed from their books because of what happened to me. The only way you can cure evil is to expose it to the light of day. That’s why I’m back. I’m back to let New Jersey see the kind of fights I can put on here.”

In retrospect, the multi-part federal case against King now appears to be a thin beef. Larkin was correct, at least in one respect; without the justification of a conviction, New Jersey had scant legal grounds to ban someone under indictment from continuing to do business within the state’s borders.

Konadu-Tapia marked King’s first Atlantic City card, or anywhere in New Jersey, since he staged Tyson’s one-round blowout of the late Alex Stewart on Dec. 8, 1990. For hardcore fight fans, the “first” East Coast visit by Tapia – not so, given that the Albuquerque, N.M., native had outpointed Andy Agosto in Pompano Beach, Fla., on Dec. 13, 1997 – should have been sufficient enough reason to draw a respectable crowd of 6,124. But having King back in town was like the circus setting up shop again near the Boardwalk if not on it (the then-new Convention Center, which is not attached to a casino, never staged another boxing card), with King its largest elephant and loudest carny sideshow barker.

“It’s good to be a total American again,” continued King, then 67 and still full of sass and vinegar. “This is like a homecoming. It’ll be like a pep rally for me. When your presumption of innocence is denied, you can throw bricks, but that changes nothing. I’m sensitive now to the fact an allegation can end your existence in New Jersey. That’s why I got to go back to work.”

An embittered Tyson has continued to cite what he says were his legitimate grievances against King, but Chavez eventually mended fences with him and Trinidad’s father announced that his son, after his contract with King was upheld, elected to sign a new $42.9 million, four-year deal with the controversial promoter just a week prior to Konadu-Tapia. Not that King seemed overly worried that those who jumped ship permanently or temporarily couldn’t be replaced.

“I made all these guys with my promotional talents,” he bragged. “I can do it again for somebody else.”

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Najee Lopez Steps up in Class and Wins Impressively at Plant City

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Garry Jonas’ ProBox series returned to its regular home in Plant City, Florida, tonight with a card topped by a 10-round light heavyweight match between fast-rising Najee Lopez and former world title challenger Lenin Castillo. This was considered a step-up fight for the 25-year-old Lopez, an Atlanta-born-fighter of Puerto Rican heritage. Although the 36-year-old Castillo had lost two of his least three heading in, he had gone the distance with Dimitry Bivol and Marcus Browne and been stopped only once (by Callum Smith).

Lopez landed the cleaner punches throughout. Although Castillo seemed unfazed during the first half of the fight, he returned to his corner at the end of round five exhibiting signs of a fractured jaw.

In the next round, Lopez cornered him against the ropes and knocked him through the ropes with a left-right combination. Referee Emil Lombardo could have stopped the fight right there, but he allowed the courageous Castillo to carry on for a bit longer, finally stopping the fight as Castillo’s corner and a Florida commissioner were signaling that it was over.

The official time was 2:36 of round six. Bigger fights await the talented Lopez who improved to 13-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Castillo declined to 25-7-1.

Co-Feature

In a stinker of a heavyweight fight, Stanley Wright, a paunchy, 34-year-old North Carolina journeyman, scored a big upset with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jeremiah Milton.

Wright carried 280 pounds, 100 pounds more than in his pro debut 11 years ago. Although he was undefeated (13-0, 11 KOs), he had never defeated an opponent with a winning record and his last four opponents were a miserable 19-48-2. Moreover, he took the fight on short notice.

What Wright had going for him was fast hands and, in the opening round, he put Milton on the canvas with a straight right hand. From that point, Milton fought tentatively and Wright, looking fatigued as early as the fourth round, fought only in spurts. It seemed doubtful that he could last the distance, but Milton, the subject of a 2021 profile in these pages, was wary of Wright’s power and unable to capitalize. “It’s almost as if Milton is afraid to win,” said ringside commentator Chris Algieri during the ninth stanza when the bout had devolved into a hugfest.

The judges had it 96-93 and 97-92 twice for the victorious Wright who boosted his record to 14-0 without improving his stature.

Also

In the TV opener, a 10-round contest in the junior middleweight division, Najee Lopez stablemate Darrelle Valsaint (12-0, 10 KOs) scored his career-best win with a second-round knockout of 35-year-old Dutch globetrotter Stephen Danyo (23-7-3).

A native Floridian of Haitian descent, the 22-year-old Valsaint was making his eighth start in Plant City. He rocked Danyo with a chopping right hand high on the temple and then, as Danyo slumped forward, delivered the coup-de-gras, a short left uppercut. The official time was 2:17 of round two.

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Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue is Headed to Vegas after KOing Ye Joon Kim

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Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11th straight stoppage tonight while successfully defending his unified super bantamweight title, advancing his record to 29-0 (26 KOs) at the expense of Ye Joon Kim. The match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came to an end at the 2:25 mark of round four when U.S. referee Mark Nelson tolled “10” over the brave but overmatched Korean.

Kim, raised in a Seoul orphanage, had a few good moments, but the “Monster” found his rhythm in the third round, leaving Kim with a purplish welt under his left eye. In the next frame, he brought the match to a conclusion, staggering the Korean with a left and then finishing matters with an overhand right that put Kim on the seat of his pants, dazed and wincing in pain.

Kim, who brought a 21-2-2 record, took the fight on 10 days’ notice, replacing Australia’s Sam Goodman who suffered an eye injury in sparring that never healed properly, forcing him to withdraw twice.

Co-promoter Bob Arum, who was in the building, announced that Inoue’s next fight would happen in Las Vegas in the Spring. Speculation centers on Mexico City’s Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) who is ranked #1 by the WBC. However, there’s also speculation that the 31-year-old Inoue may move up to featherweight and seek to win a title in a fifth weight class, in which case a potential opponent is the winner of the Feb. 2 match between Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa/Fulton have different promoters, but the arrival of Turki Alalshikh, the sport’s Daddy Warbucks, has changed the dynamic. Tonight, Naoya Inoue made his first start as a brand ambassador for Riyadh Season.

Simmering on the backburner is a megafight with countryman Junto Nakatani, an easy fight to make as Arum has ties to both. However, the powers-that-be would prefer more “marination.”

Inoue has appeared twice in Las Vegas, scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Jason Moloney in October of 2020 at the MGM Bubble and a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels in June of 2021.

Semi-wind-up

In a 12-round bout for a regional welterweight title, Jin Sasaki improved to 19-1-1 (17) with a unanimous decision over Shoki Sakai (29-15-3). The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.

Also

In a bout in which both contestants were on the canvas, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3) edged out Misaki Hirano (11-2), winning a majority decision. A 28-year-old Osaka southpaw with a fan-friendly style, the lanky Shimomachi, unbeaten in his last 22 starts, competes as a super bantamweight. A match with Inoue may be in his future.

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Eric Priest Wins Handily on Thursday’s Golden Boy card at the Commerce Casino

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Model turned fighter Eric Priest jabbed and jolted his way into the super middleweight rankings with a shutout decision win over veteran Tyler Howard on Thursday.

In his first main event Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) proved ready for contender status by defusing every attack Tennessee’s Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) could muster at Commerce Casino, the second fight in six days at the LA County venue.

All ticket monies collected on the Folden Boy Promotions card were contributed to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as they battle wildfires sprouting all over Los Angeles County due to high winds.

Priest, 26, had never fought anyone near Howard’s caliber but used a ramrod jab to keep the veteran off-balance and unable to muster a forceful counter-attack. Round after round the Korean-American fighter pumped left jabs while circling his opposition.

Though hit with power shots, none seemed to faze Howard but his own blows were unable to put a dent in Priest. After 10 rounds of the same repetitive action all three judges scored the fight 100-90 for Priest who now wins a regional super middleweight title.

Priest also joins the top 15 rankings of the WBA organization.

In a fight between evenly matched middleweights, Jordan Panthen (11-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated after 10 rounds versus DeAundre Pettus (12-4, 7 KOs). Though equally skilled, Panthen simply out-worked the South Caroliina fighter to win by unanimous decision. No knockdowns were scored.

Other Bouts

Grant Flores (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Costa Rica’s David Lobo Ramirez (17-4, 12 KOs) with two successive right uppercuts at 2:59 of the second round of the super welterweight fight.

Cayden Griffith (3-0, 3 KOs) used a left hook to the body to stop Mark Misiura at 1:43 of the second round in a super welterweight bout.

Jordan Fuentes (3-0) floored Brandon Badillo (0-3-1) in the third round and proceeded to win by decision after four rounds in a super bantamweight fight.

A super featherweight match saw Leonardo Sanchez (8-0) win by decision over Joseph Cruz Brown (10-12) after six rounds.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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