Don King

Donald King was born August 20, 1931, and ran gambling houses before boxing found him. In 1954 he shot a man trying to rob one of those houses - ruled justifiable. In 1967 he stomped an employee to death over $600, served nearly four years for manslaughter. He emerged a promoter and staged "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila," carrying Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and a who's-who of champions into the ring. Many of them sued him for fraud. Tyson said King "did more bad to black fighters than any white promoter ever in the history of boxing." The hair stayed up, the lawsuits piled on, and the fights kept coming.