Claim OwnershipPowerplay: The House of Don King
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Description
Don King killed two men. The first case was ruled justifiable homicide. In 1967 he was found guilty of stomping to death an employee, Sam Garrett, on the street. Garret owed him $600. Released just five years later and later pardoned, King entered the world of boxing, promoting some of the biggest fights in sports history, including The Rumble in the Jungle, and managing the most famous names in the fight game, including Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and boxing writer Steve Bunce tell the story of the controversial life of Don King.
19 Episodes
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A harrowing defeat for Mike Tyson in Tokyo. King, was sitting at ringside next to Donald Trump, his guest in Japan. His fighter lost, but King always had a plan.
With contributions from Boxing insiders and former fighters, we hear about King’s relentless pursuit of power and money, with Mike Tyson at the helm of his stable of boxers.
Featuring Heavyweight Champion Tim Witherspoon, Steve Bunce and Lennox Lewis on the so-called ‘Lost Generation’ as Don King was attracting the attention of the FBI.
1Don King was at the very top of Boxing, and he meant to stay there. Steve Bunce and Lennox Lewis with the story.
In October 1974 Muhammad Ali and George Foreman had a ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, a fight that has become one of the most famous events in sports history, and Don King made it happen
Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis and Steve Bunce examine the early days of Don King, Boxing Promoter, as he prepares to take on the fight game
Veteran fight aficionado Steve Bunce is alongside Heavyweight Champion of the World, Lennox Lewis, to examine the early life and crimes of notorious Boxing promoter Don King
Steve Bunce and Lennox Lewis take a dive into one of the most recognisable and enduring figures in boxing, promoter Don King, with contributions from rivals, partners, law enforcers and fighters.
In the aftermath of Sepp Blatter’s downfall, what is his legacy at FIFA and in Qatar?
Sepp Blatter resigns dramatically, ending a 17 year run as FIFA President. And we hear from the man himself as he sits down with us for a defiant interview.
While police raids hit the headlines, an ill fated film, paid for by FIFA, reveals the truth of FIFA’s hubris as Sepp Blatter faces his downfall.
FBI and IRS agents co-ordinate a raid that shocks FIFA, with senior executives suddenly in handcuffs. Sepp Blatter is clinging to power by a thread.
An internal FIFA report generates controversy, and a dangerous investigation is brewing in New York.
After an embarrassing scandal, new investigators are allowed into the house of FIFA.
When two World Cups come up for grabs in 2010, the bidding contest reveals questionable practices and a power struggle that threatens to bring Sepp Blatter down.
Sepp feels untouchable, but journalists begin to ratchet up the pressure after a key company affiliated to FIFA goes bankrupt, and its secrets spill out.
With Sepp Blatter newly installed as FIFA President, he builds links with Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, important executives with reputations for corruption.
Fifa President João Havelange transforms the organisation into a money machine, while his protégé Sepp Blatter plots to take over the throne.
Over ten thrilling episodes, David Morrissey tells the story of the man who ran world football, and led FIFA in an era of endemic corruption and controversy, from cash in brown envelopes at a Caribbean hotel to the awarding of the Qatar World Cup, mired in allegations of impropriety and vote buying. From his meteoric rise to his stunning and sudden downfall after an FBI and IRS investigation of senior FIFA figures, insiders and whistleblowers tell the story of the world's most popular sport becoming synonymous with scandal, and of the unlikely figure of the Swiss functionary at the heart of it all.
Listen to the full boxset on BBC Sounds from 19th November.
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