Tweet
After reading a few biographies on fighters that dealt with King and his fighters and also books on sports management that broached the subject of his business practices, there are three main ways in which he allegedly defrauded his fighters:
1. Complicated contracts. As previously mentioned in this thread, King’s lawyers were very good about adding in ambiguous stipulations and self-serving clauses that he could use to reduce or even cancel “promised” payments to either fighter. If King didn’t like the financial outcome of a fight, he would simply refer back to the provisions in the contract as a reason for non-payment. He would then tell fighters who balked at not being paid that if they took him to court the case would last for several months (if not years) and the cost of retaining legal representation would be significant. Or, they could simply agree to his terms and get paid immediately. Most fighters took the deal.
2. The “Under the Table” payment. In this scam King would tell a fighter about the “evils” of the U.S. Government and the IRS and how it loved to steal the money of black fighters. He would then say because he liked and respected the fighter so much and didn’t want to see him lose his money to the government, he would sign him to a false contract. The contract would stipulate the fighter would receive one amount but King promised he would actually pay the fighter a much larger amount that was off the books after the fight was over. You can probably guess what came next. After the fight King would tell the fighter that there were unexpected costs and that he didn’t make as much as he thought. Because of that he couldn’t pay the fighter anything more that was in the contract. The fighter couldn’t do anything about it was his word against King’s and King had signed a contract as evidence. Plus, the fighter would also have to admit he was trying to defraud the U.S. Government, which could equal jail time.
3. The Suitcase Trick. This one is comically sad and was allegedly used on many fighters, including Ali. In this scenario, King would outright refuse to pay a fighter the full amount he owed him for whatever reason he wanted. If the fighter threatened court, King would come to the fighter with a suitcase or duffel bag full of money (usually large denominations) and would use it to settle out of court. He banked on the fact most fighters were uneducated and would light up at the sight of a bag full of money and would happily take it as full payment. More often than not, he was correct. Meanwhile it was estimated that the total value of the money in the bag was only a fraction of what he actually owed the fighter. It’s estimated that King stole millions of dollars from fighters over the years by using this tactic.
1. Complicated contracts. As previously mentioned in this thread, King’s lawyers were very good about adding in ambiguous stipulations and self-serving clauses that he could use to reduce or even cancel “promised” payments to either fighter. If King didn’t like the financial outcome of a fight, he would simply refer back to the provisions in the contract as a reason for non-payment. He would then tell fighters who balked at not being paid that if they took him to court the case would last for several months (if not years) and the cost of retaining legal representation would be significant. Or, they could simply agree to his terms and get paid immediately. Most fighters took the deal.
2. The “Under the Table” payment. In this scam King would tell a fighter about the “evils” of the U.S. Government and the IRS and how it loved to steal the money of black fighters. He would then say because he liked and respected the fighter so much and didn’t want to see him lose his money to the government, he would sign him to a false contract. The contract would stipulate the fighter would receive one amount but King promised he would actually pay the fighter a much larger amount that was off the books after the fight was over. You can probably guess what came next. After the fight King would tell the fighter that there were unexpected costs and that he didn’t make as much as he thought. Because of that he couldn’t pay the fighter anything more that was in the contract. The fighter couldn’t do anything about it was his word against King’s and King had signed a contract as evidence. Plus, the fighter would also have to admit he was trying to defraud the U.S. Government, which could equal jail time.
3. The Suitcase Trick. This one is comically sad and was allegedly used on many fighters, including Ali. In this scenario, King would outright refuse to pay a fighter the full amount he owed him for whatever reason he wanted. If the fighter threatened court, King would come to the fighter with a suitcase or duffel bag full of money (usually large denominations) and would use it to settle out of court. He banked on the fact most fighters were uneducated and would light up at the sight of a bag full of money and would happily take it as full payment. More often than not, he was correct. Meanwhile it was estimated that the total value of the money in the bag was only a fraction of what he actually owed the fighter. It’s estimated that King stole millions of dollars from fighters over the years by using this tactic.
Comment