King Taking Boxing to the People.

After over 30 years operating at the top of the promotion business, Don King thought 2005 was the year to take boxing back to the people. Cities including Chicago, St. Louis and Worcester, Mass.—towns that had not hosted major fight cards in decades—were the beneficiaries as fans voted with their feet and pocketbooks that they would support big-time prizefighting if they have access to it.

In just four months, 74,408 people have attended the five Don King Productions’ events so far this year.

“I am a promoter of the people, by the people and for the people, and my magic lies in my people ties,” King said.

“We will always look forward to doing cards in the great cities of New York, Las Vegas and Atlantic City as well as at Native American casinos, but it’s good for the people and the sport of boxing to do shows across the country where new generations can see matches live and in person.

“One need only look at the excitement that was created in Chicago, Worcester and St. Louis to see how important it is to take world championship boxing back to the people.”

King said he will consider returning to markets that welcomed his promotions as well as identifying other boxing-starved markets that would welcome the type of major events he promotes.

“It’s all about people and keeping it real,” King added. “Markets change in all businesses and boxing is no different. I look forward to taking HBO, SHOWTIME and KingVision to more great American cities.

Undisputed world welterweight champion Cory “The Next Generation” Spinks put his titles on the line opposing Zab “Super” Judah on Feb. 5 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis and drew 22,370 fans, the largest crowd to witness a boxing match at an indoor arena in history. They were treated to a stunning ninth-round technical knockout win by Judah.

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This was also the first SHOWTIME fight telecast to emanate from St. Louis while KingVision distributed the fight around the rest of the globe.

Local journalists in St. Louis said the last fight that could compare to Spinks vs. Judah II was when Archie Moore met champion Joey Maxim on Dec. 17, 1952, with Moore winning the light heavyweight title.

Last Saturday in Chicago the Windy City returned to boxing prominence with 20,126 fans on hand at the United Center to see World Boxing Organization champion “Relentless” Lamon Brewster’s first-minute technical knockout of Andrew “Powerful Pole” Golota.

HBO was making their first-ever boxing broadcast from Chicago for Brewster vs. Golota with other countries viewing the matches on KingVision.

“I’ve been doing fights for HBO for 28 years,” analyst Larry Merchant told the Chicago Sun-Times, “and this is the first time we’ve had a big enough fight to go to Chicago.”

This marked the first time a world heavyweight championship had been decided in the Chicagoland area since World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Mike Weaver won a unanimous 15-round decision over James “Quick” Tillis at the Rosemont Horizon on Oct. 3, 1981.

“United Center owner Bill Wirtz had more on his mind than just bringing a major boxing event back to Chicago,” King said. “It was a tribute to his father, Arthur Wirtz, who promoted so many big boxing matches at Chicago Stadium and Comiskey Park.”

Don King Productions has promoted more than 500 world championship fights and holds the distinction of having promoted seven of the 10 largest pay-per-view events in history, as gauged by total buys, including: Holyfield vs. Tyson II, 1.95 million buys, June 1997; Tyson vs. Holyfield I, 1.6 million buys, November 1996; Tyson vs. McNeeley, 1.58 million buys, August 1995; and Bruno vs. Tyson, 1.4 million buys, March 1996.

DKP promoted or co-promoted 12 of the top-20 highest-grossing live gates in thehistory of the state of Nevada including the top five: Holyfield vs. Lewis II, paid attendance: 17,078, gross: $16,860,300 (NOTE: Also highest live-gate gross for any event in history), date: Nov. 13, 1999; Holyfield vs. Tyson II, paid attendance: 16,279, gross: $14,277,200, date: June 28, 1997; Holyfield vs. Tyson I, paid attendance: 16,103, gross: $14,150,700, date: Nov. 9, 1996; Tyson vs. McNeeley, paid attendance: 16,113, gross: $13,965,600, date: Aug. 19, 1995; and De La Hoya vs. Trinidad, paid attendance: 11,184, gross: $12,949,500 (Also garnered the most pay-per-view buys for a non-heavyweight fight at 1.4 million.), date: Sept. 18, 1999.