Don King (5)

American boxing promoter born August 20, 1931 in Cleveland, Ohio. He ran an illegal bookmaking operation and was charged for killing two men in separate incidents 13 years apart. The 1st was determined to be justifiable homicide after it was found that King shot Hillary Brown in the back and killed him while he was attempting to rob one of King's gambling houses. King was then convicted of 2nd degree murder for the second killing in 1966 after he was found guilty of stomping to death an employee who owed him $600. King's attorney plea bargained his conviction down to non-negligent manslaughter for which he served just under four years in prison. King was later pardoned for the crime in 1983. King entered the boxing world after convincing Muhammad Ali to box in a charity exhibition for a local hospital in Cleveland with the help of singer Lloyd Price. Early on he formed a partnership with a local promoter named Don Elbaum, who already had a stable of fighters in Cleveland and years of experience in boxing. In 1974, King negotiated to promote a heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire ('the Rumble in the Jungle').