Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990 TAG: 9007180271
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From New York Times and Associated Press reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Douglas and his manager, John Johnson, had been locked in a legal battle with King over his promotional contract with the champion.
Johnson and Douglas had sued King in Nevada, charging that King had breached his contract by trying to have the result of Douglas' victory against Mike Tyson overturned.
King denied any wrongdoing and countersued Douglas and Johnson to uphold the validity of his contract. That suit was being heard in U.S. District Court in New York and was the vehicle for the settlement.
After Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the suit Tuesday, King said in the corridor outside the courtroom that, as part of the settlement, he had assigned his promotional rights for Douglas-Holyfield to the Mirage casino-hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.
Although King would not reveal the financial specifics of the settlement, a source close to the case said King had received more than $4 million from the Mirage for the rights to the Douglas-Holyfield bout.
Donald Trump reportedly received slightly more than $2 million in the settlement. Trump had contended that shortly after Douglas defeated Tyson in February, King had shaken hands on a deal that would have allowed Trump to promote Douglas-Holyfield.
As part of the agreement, King will promote a rematch between Douglas and Tyson should Douglas defeat Holyfield. The rematch would take place at the Mirage.
King's lawyer, Bob Hirth, said that after that, "Don's promotional rights for the length of the contract are reaffirmed. His promotional contract covers the time that Douglas is champion, plus two years."
King said he was pleased with the settlement.
In other boxing:
Olympic silver medalist Roy Jones Jr. thought he knocked out the Texas junior middleweight champion in the first round. Now he doesn't know what to think.
Investigations began Tuesday in Pensacola, Fla., into allegations that the boxer Jones beat Saturday wasn't the man he said he was.
"I was definitely not there," said Derwin Richards, a security guard at a Houston correctional facility, in an interview published in Tuesday's editions of the Pensacola News Journal. "I would like to fight Roy Jones, but that wasn't me fighting."
Stanley Levin, president of Square Ring Inc., a Pensacola company that promoted the bout, said he turned over all records of the fight to State Attorney Curtis Golden.
by CNB