Nuno
09-24-2003, 10:29 AM
KING ACKNOWLEDGES ICC....
KIND OF....
The following comes from our friends at Boxing Insider.
Don King Discusses MMA!
By Scoop Malinowski
Don King has recently been rumored to be interested in getting involved in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Some upstarts have even made concrete claims on sports radio talk shows that Don King has pledged to completely finance their forthcoming MMA endeavors.
I was finally able to get direct word (well, sort of) from Mr. King about this rather intriguing matter. Just before the postfight press conference of the IBF Heavyweight title fight between Chris Byrd and Fres Oquendo at The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT, King answered my queries. It was vintage Don King-style oratory...amusing, coy, mysterious and curious all at the same time! Read for yourself. Or more precisely, you will have to read between the lines.
*************.com: What is your involvement with Mixed Martial Arts? Are you getting involved?
Don King: "Yes, martial arts is good. Because kung fu and things of the sort that come from China and the, what is it?, Mai Ling Dynasty, and then you go with the guys who are the body and the soul. I studied the martial arts, because the body and the soul have to work in conjunction with each other, in the spirit. You can see a guy who can bust rocks and knock down trees and drag big big balls by his testicles [smiles]. This takes mind over matter. And so when I'm in China, they're taking me to all these temples to see all the Buddhists. And they've learned the science of the mind working with the body. The mind's very powerful. And it introduces you to being able to deal with defeat, victory. It's about a mind over matter thing. And they can make their body do things that were here to do for seem impossible. So martial arts is a very important part. You should train to do the yoga and different things in order to get your mind, so you can be strong because your mind is what really carries you. Your body is your fickle instrument but your mind is the brain that directs everything that you do."
*************.com: "Are you with the ICC? They say they're associated with you and you're financing them?
Don King: "Well, they're talking to me. I have not really given my firm commitment. But they're on board, they're trying to talk. They're coming from all over the world. From every walk of life. And the most important thing to me right now is our soldiers in Iraq. The commanding General (inaudible) is the man who has gotten me working with them and the Lieutenant Colonel (inaudible) called me up, wrote me a letter and I'm now supplying them him with boxing eqipment. They had a match tonight with the servicemen, even some women boxed. We sent the fight (Byrd vs. Oquendo) to them live tonight. Because they are the vanguard of our nation. They are the protectors or our liberties and our freedoms. They are the protectors that secure the rights that we enjoy in a democratic process. And democracy would not be democracy, liberty or freedom, if we did not have a great military that was there to enforce and protect and to give liberty and freedom to all. And they got liberty for the Iraqis. And so the 104st Airborne Division - the baddest assault team on the planet - air assault - and I now become a screaming eagle. The screaming eagle is now there working. Ricardo Mayorga is a screaming eagle. He's going down to do a live exhibition, if our great President George Walker Bush, gives us his blessing...a dynamic leader who is decisive and moves on the front. Whatever they say - criticizing, say one thing or the other, he's moving on. So he's a force that we all Americans should support. And Americans should join me in this magnanimous effort to help our troops and let them know we do care about them. Because they certainly do care about us."
MMAWeekly
KIND OF....
The following comes from our friends at Boxing Insider.
Don King Discusses MMA!
By Scoop Malinowski
Don King has recently been rumored to be interested in getting involved in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Some upstarts have even made concrete claims on sports radio talk shows that Don King has pledged to completely finance their forthcoming MMA endeavors.
I was finally able to get direct word (well, sort of) from Mr. King about this rather intriguing matter. Just before the postfight press conference of the IBF Heavyweight title fight between Chris Byrd and Fres Oquendo at The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT, King answered my queries. It was vintage Don King-style oratory...amusing, coy, mysterious and curious all at the same time! Read for yourself. Or more precisely, you will have to read between the lines.
*************.com: What is your involvement with Mixed Martial Arts? Are you getting involved?
Don King: "Yes, martial arts is good. Because kung fu and things of the sort that come from China and the, what is it?, Mai Ling Dynasty, and then you go with the guys who are the body and the soul. I studied the martial arts, because the body and the soul have to work in conjunction with each other, in the spirit. You can see a guy who can bust rocks and knock down trees and drag big big balls by his testicles [smiles]. This takes mind over matter. And so when I'm in China, they're taking me to all these temples to see all the Buddhists. And they've learned the science of the mind working with the body. The mind's very powerful. And it introduces you to being able to deal with defeat, victory. It's about a mind over matter thing. And they can make their body do things that were here to do for seem impossible. So martial arts is a very important part. You should train to do the yoga and different things in order to get your mind, so you can be strong because your mind is what really carries you. Your body is your fickle instrument but your mind is the brain that directs everything that you do."
*************.com: "Are you with the ICC? They say they're associated with you and you're financing them?
Don King: "Well, they're talking to me. I have not really given my firm commitment. But they're on board, they're trying to talk. They're coming from all over the world. From every walk of life. And the most important thing to me right now is our soldiers in Iraq. The commanding General (inaudible) is the man who has gotten me working with them and the Lieutenant Colonel (inaudible) called me up, wrote me a letter and I'm now supplying them him with boxing eqipment. They had a match tonight with the servicemen, even some women boxed. We sent the fight (Byrd vs. Oquendo) to them live tonight. Because they are the vanguard of our nation. They are the protectors or our liberties and our freedoms. They are the protectors that secure the rights that we enjoy in a democratic process. And democracy would not be democracy, liberty or freedom, if we did not have a great military that was there to enforce and protect and to give liberty and freedom to all. And they got liberty for the Iraqis. And so the 104st Airborne Division - the baddest assault team on the planet - air assault - and I now become a screaming eagle. The screaming eagle is now there working. Ricardo Mayorga is a screaming eagle. He's going down to do a live exhibition, if our great President George Walker Bush, gives us his blessing...a dynamic leader who is decisive and moves on the front. Whatever they say - criticizing, say one thing or the other, he's moving on. So he's a force that we all Americans should support. And Americans should join me in this magnanimous effort to help our troops and let them know we do care about them. Because they certainly do care about us."
MMAWeekly