RUMBLE GRUMBLE
Boxing legend Don King, 93, ‘hit with £2.4bn fraud lawsuit over failed bid to stage Rumble in the Jungle 2’
The lawsuit could financially cripple the pensioner
LEGENDARY boxing promoter Don King has been jabbed with a £2.4BILLION lawsuit over a second Rumble in the Jungle.
Last October marked the 50th anniversary of the historic heavyweight title fight between the late Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
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King promoted the epic bout in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was keen to pay homage to it with a Rumble in the Jungle 2 in Africa.
The 93-year-old is said to have enlisted the help of BYD Sports CEO Cecil Miller to put on a boxing bonanza in Nigeria, which was set to feature performances from musicians Alicia Keys and John Legend.
But Miller has filed a $3billion lawsuit against the Hall of Famer for allegedly pulling the plug on the event after he was asked to co-promote.
According to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Miller and CYD are suing for fraud, defamation, breach of contract and other allegations.
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Miller's lawyer, Anthony J.M. Jones, claims King decided to scupper the event as it inched towards coming to fruition.
Jones told : “It’s confounding when you look at how many people were working on this.
“This is just a sad day for the sport.
"We are now in 2025 and there will never be a chance to do a 50th anniversary of a fight between Foreman and Ali - and to do it in Africa.”
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According to Fortune, King has yet to respond to the accusations.
Court documents, however, have shown the American - who allegedly went radio silent after it emerged he doesn't own the rights to the first Rumble in the Jungle - sent Miller a cease-and-desist letter.
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In the letter, King accuses Miller "of falsely representing to government officials" that he authorised him to stage a 50th anniversary event.
Miller's lawyer has vehemently denied the accusations, branding King's claims as an attempt at “sabotage".
Miller - who is said to have sought out several world champions to appear on the card - is seeking a whopping $3billion in total.
This is made up of $600million - how much the $100m the fight grossed at the time would be worth today after inflation - and $2.4bn in prospective damages.
But he's also after a formal written apology from the controversial salesman, who is still, to this day, one of boxing's most recognisable figures.
I'm the last British reporter alive who was at Rumble in the Jungle... it was the most bizarre 10 days of my life
OCTOBER 30th 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle, when Muhammad Ali confirmed his immortality by knocking out George Foreman to regain the world heavyweight championship, writes Colin Hart.
That fabulous, mind-blowing fight that took place before an African dawn broke over Kinshasa has been described as the greatest sporting event of the 20th Century.
Sadly, I’m the only British journalist who was at ringside that night who is still alive to tell the tale – of the most bizarre ten days of my working life.
The first bell in Zaire sounded at 4am and the two men were each paid $5million – with president Mobutu Sese Seko putting up the money.
Mobutu was probably the most terrifying, murderous dictator who ever ruled a nation on the African continent — and with Uganda’s Idi Amin as a rival, that is saying something.
The Zairians were scared to death of him, with good reason – as the 20th of May Stadium’s walls pock-marked with holes from firing squads executing dissidents.
He even threatened to shoot telex operators who were caught sleeping when journalists wanted to send their stories to editors back home.
And that’s before the fight even started, with its throbbing tribal drums, 60,000 frenzied fans… and the debut of Ali’s iconic rope-a-dope.
Read Fleet Street boxing legend COLIN HART’S full look back at the Rumble in the Jungle…
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