Sticks and Stones Can Break His Bones, but ESPN Documentaries Hurt Even More

To the casual news watcher Don King's hair probably made him seem like the treasure troll of the boxing world. He's not so cuddly as his 'do suggests. In fact he's killed two men with his own hands (one was ruled self defense), threatened to break the legs of heavyweight Larry Holmes and allegedly cheated boxer Meldrick Taylor out of $1 million and then threatened to have him killed. An ESPN SportsCentury documentary displayed facts such as these in a way that was apparently the last straw for Mr. King. He is now suing ESPN for $2.5 billion. That's no misprint, the figure starts with a b. This attempt to recoup losses is much more ambitious than previous attempts, but also more civilized. His 1967 beating of a man who owed him money ended in murder as the man died. A crime King spent four years in prison for. Hope it's not libel to bring that up...