Word: alie
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...temples as if galvanized, he works at a pace that would exhaust most men. His 18-hour days and hundreds of phone calls a week have helped him outflank such established matchmakers as Madison Square Garden and Top Rank, Inc., a longtime promoter and closed-circuit telecaster of Ali fights. Of course he has not been hurt by the cooperation of Ali and his manager, Black Muslim Executive Herbert Muhammad, who are happy to break old traditions and deal with a black promoter...
...King's greatest asset is a flair for thinking-and acting-big. With Ali demanding prize money beyond the means of individuals or even corporations, King has made his deals with governments. Shrewd enough to realize that championship bouts featuring Ali are the kind of promotion that developing nations like to stage, King has courted heads of state in Cairo, Tehran, Lusaka (Zambia), Manila and Kuala Lumpur. "The jet lag is so bad," he says, "I eat breakfast 24 hours...
...castigated by accusation and invective") and jive ("I like to make deals that give me my money and my honey at the same time"), King loves to hold forth on anything from capitalism to existentialism. Over his desk he keeps an incongruous pair of portraits: an original of Ali by LeRoy Neiman and a print of Rembrandt's Aristotle contemplating the Bust of Homer...
...soon putting together rights of his own. King's first big-time bout as promoter was Foreman's championship defense against Ken Norton in Caracas in March 1974. Even before that fight took place, King was busy bidding for and eventually tying up the Foreman-Ali showdown. Ali has fought for no other promoter since...
Where does he go from here? King recognizes that once Ali retires or loses, much of the million-dollar glamour of boxing will fade. To avoid fading with it, he is expanding into producing records, representing pro athletes and making movies. With financial backing from Arab contacts, he has even made a bid to buy Madison Square Garden. "One day I will realize I can't make every deal. That day," he intones, "has not come...