Don King has refuted Mike Tyson’s claims about his health, insisting he is ‘doing fine’.
King is regarded as one of the most iconic promoters in the history of boxing and is still working at the age of 93.
But Tyson, who sued King for $100million in 1998, raised concerns for King’s health last week when he claimed his former promoter was unwell.
“Don is not doing well right now,” Tyson said.
Mike Tyson claimed Don King was not well
REUTERS
“He’s probably close to 100 years old, he’s not doing well.”
TMZ also reported that King had recently been admitted to hospital for 10 days where he underwent a blood transfusion.
But King has now denied any suggestion that he is unwell and had a special message for Tyson.
He said in a statement: “Tell everyone I am doing fine and I love Mike Tyson.”
King’s message for Tyson indicates that the pair’s spiky relationship has softened in recent years.
Tyson became the face of boxing in the 1980s when King took the young heavyweight under his wing.
The collaboration saw Tyson reach the very pinnacle of boxing where he became the undisputed heavyweight champion with record pay-per-view numbers for several of his fights.
But while their working relationship was extremely successful on the outside, it was far more fractious behind the scenes.
Don King continues to promote at the age of 93
PA
As Tyson’s fame grew, allegations were made against King that he was financially exploiting the heavyweight champion.
Tyson eventually filed a lawsuit against his promoter with the case never making it to trial as King agreed to pay $14m to resolve the matter.
The iconic heavyweight never received part of the settlement figure though as the full fund went to paying off his mounting debts.
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Don King was sued by Mike Tyson in 1998
PA
Tyson wasn’t the only fighter to have sued King over the years with the promoter famously having run-ins with Muhammed Ali.
King was the brains behind the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and the ‘Thrilla in Manila’, where Ali defeated George Foreman and Joe Frazier respectively.
But Ali sued King in 1982 for $1.1m, claiming he was underpaid for a fight against Larry Holmes.