Where Is Don King Now? Inside the Promoter’s Tumultuous Life After Mike Tyson Lawsuit

NEED TO KNOW

• Don King is a prominent boxing promoter who has faced several controversies
• King worked with big-time boxers, including Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson
• Tyson sued King for $100 million and settled for $14 million

Don King became a prominent name in the boxing world for promoting matches with major athletes — including Mike Tyson.

King burst onto the boxing scene by working with Muhammad Ali from a young age. He then promoted matches for boxers George Foreman, Julio César Chávez, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson and Christy Martin, among others.

However, many of his former clients later sued him on allegations of fraud. Between 1954 and 1966, he killed two people; one was deemed “justifiable homicide,” per The New York Times, and the other charge was reduced to manslaughter in 1972 after he served over three years of his original sentence.

After his legal problems, King was chosen by Joe Jackson to promote and organize his sons’ The Jacksons’ 1984 Victory Tour. Joe reportedly encouraged his sons, including Michael Jackson, to work with King, because he promised the family an advance of $3 million, according to Time.

King’s roles in the careers of big stars have been spotlighted and unpacked in a handful of productions — from the 2026 biopic Michael, in which Deon Cole portrayed King, to Netflix’s four-part docuseries, Tyson, which hit the streamer on Oct. 13.

Here’s everything to know about where Don King is now.

Who is Don King?

King is a prominent boxing promoter who has worked with some of the most successful boxers over the course of his 50-year career. He organized the famed 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight championship fight between Ali and Foreman; a 1975 fight between Ali and Chuck Wepner; and a 1975 match between Ali and Frazier.

Over the next 20 years, King continued promoting prominent boxers Tyson, Larry Holmes, Chávez, Evander Holyfield, Aaron Pryor and Marco Antonio Barrera, among many others.

However, his career was riddled with controversies stemming from past crimes and fraud allegations. Before his career took off, King served nearly four years in prison for second-degree murder. The charge was later reduced to manslaughter, he was released from prison and pardoned by Gov. James Rhodes in 1983.

A year earlier, Ali sued King and accused him of cutting over $1 million from a fight he earned, per The New York Times. King allegedly ended the lawsuit by convincing Ali’s friend to give the boxer a suitcase of $50,000 in exchange for signing a letter dismissing the suit, according to the 2003 book, The Life and Crimes of Don King: The Shame of Boxing in America.

Since then, several of King’s former boxers have sued him on similar allegations of fraud.

Holmes alleged that over the course of his career, King cheated him out of $10 million; they eventually settled for $150,000, per the book. Other lawsuits that King settled for millions of dollars included cases with Tyson, Terry Norris, Tim Witherspoon and Chris Byrd, among others.

When did he work with Mike Tyson?

King became Tyson’s official promoter after Tyson and actress Robin Givens divorced in 1989, according to the Netflix docuseries.

“I ended up signing with Don because I realized I’m a product, regardless of if I wanna be one or not,” Tyson said in the docuseries. “I’m in the money game, so I’m a product.”

Soon after, Tyson and his team bought land from King in Ohio so Tyson could get back on his feet surrounded by a trusted group, including his managers and King.

King promoted Tyson’s boxing matches and spoke on his behalf during Tyson’s controversies, including after he was charged with raping an 18-year-old contestant at the Miss Black America pageant in Indianapolis in 1991, per The Washington Post. King allegedly met with the Ku Klux Klan in the state to help Tyson’s case, according to the docuseries.

Tyson was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison but was released in 1995, per The New York Times. Tyson denies the allegations and believes the conviction was a “political move,” per the docuseries.

King continued to set up fights for Tyson while he was in prison. After he was released, Tyson told The New York Times he planned to fight again. “Don King continues to be my promoter; Don King is the greatest promoter in the world,” he said.

Did King and Tyson have a falling out?

In 1997, Tyson was suspended from boxing and fined $3 million after he bit Holyfield’s ears twice during their heavyweight title fight, per CNN.

Then, in 1998, the IRS put a $6.3 million tax lien on his Connecticut mansion, per CBS News. This incident prompted Tyson and his team to conduct an audit, following which they suspected King was ripping Tyson off, per the docuseries.

“He was taking a great share of my money, almost equal what I was taking,” Tyson claimed in the docuseries. “I felt very betrayed because they kept the truth from me.”

Tyson was furious with King not because of the money, but because he felt betrayed by a man whom he trusted, per the docuseries. Tyson then sued King for $100 million, per CBS News. They settled for $14 million in 2004, according to The New York Times.

Along with King, Tyson broke things off with his managers and dismantled his existing “Team Tyson,” per the docuseries. He then enlisted promoter Shelly Finkel to lead his boxing career, according to the docuseries.

Where is Don King now?

As of 2026, King is in his 90s and has taken a step back from the boxing world. While he hasn’t promoted a major event in years, he has occasionally promoted smaller fights.

King gave a rare press conference for a fight featuring Adrien Broner in May 2023 and later stepped out for a fight between Broner and Blair Cobbs in Hollywood, Fla., in June 2024.

However, King’s legal issues remain ongoing, as a promoting company sued him for $3 billion on allegations of defamation, tortious interference and fraud in January 2025, per NBC News.

In February 2026, BoxingScene reported King’s company filed a lawsuit against Ring Magazine, Sela, Michael Hunter and the WBA. The lawsuit claimed the announcement of a heavyweight fight between Hunter and Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller was in breach of its contract with Hunter.

“Multiple players within boxing induced and colluded with each other to misrepresent the rights and contract between Don King and his fighter,” King’s attorney Alejandro Brito told the outlet.

Both suits appear to remain active.

Read the original article on People