And there is one major Hispanic promoter, Golden Boy, headed by a 
jillionaire who made his money in the ring mainly working for Uncle Bob 
Arum at, as Flash Gordon used to call it, the Top Rank Plantation.

Diversity in boxing? In the ring, yes. In the gym, yeah, there are plenty of 
black and Latino trainers although the only truly prominent black trainer in 
the fight game is another guy who has been around for more than three 
decades, Emmanuel Steward. Now ask the average fan to name another 
top black trainer. The typical fan's answer might be, "Buddy McGirt and I 
don't know."

Top Rank doesn't even have one black employee. As far as I know, 
Golden Boy also has no black faces getting paychecks. Lou DiBella has 
none and ditto for Gary Shaw. Ditto for Artie Pelullo at Banner. None of 
the above is racist, but perhaps they should be more race-conscious. 

Butch Lewis, more of a manager of Michael Spinks than a promoter, has 
come and gone. Murad Muhammad prospers, then stumbles and fades into 
the rear view mirror.

How about the cable networks? Yes, good guy and fighter's friend Arthur 
Curry is at HBO and, at the top level, they have a diversity 1-2 punch in Kery 
Davis and Luis Barragan. How about Showtime? I don't see a single black 
executive face in their boxing operation at least in the offices on Broadway. 
I think the same can be said about ESPN as well and, although I am not 
sure, has anyone ever heard of a black decision-maker involved in boxing at 
Fox? I hear complete silence from the network suites.

When it comes to diversity, King is a mixed bag. Remember, he had the 
audacity to put his mug on a poster for a show in Atlanta alongside Martin 
Luther King's and label it "King's Dream." I doubt MLK ever dreamed about 
watching tubs of goo like Greg Page wallow in a boxing ring. That was both 
nervy and nauseating but subtlety has never been King's forte.

But King started with a diverse team. The nigger, the Jew (Al Braverman) 
and the Irishman (Paddy Flood). I'm not nominating any of them for sainthood 
but King also brought in a black lawyer, Charley Lomax, who is still toiling in 
the DKP vineyard today. When I worked as DK's Minister Of Propaganda, 
there were black, Asian and Hispanic people working in various positions 
at his New York and then Florida offices. For 25 years, two of his top execs 

have been boxing ops chief Dana Jamison and pay-per-view and administrative
 boss Celia Tuckman. When those two began with DKP, the only women in 
boxing were secretaries.

When, as the manager of Earnie Shavers, King went to powerful Madison 
Square Garden and the only black faces he saw were fighters and trainers. 

But, using his street wit and guile, King barged his way into the inner circle.
At Video Techniques, he earned, learned and then discarded his white 
partners. And Don King Productions came into being. America was 
introduced to King's m.o. of "trickeration."

Believe me; I know all the bad DK has done. Maybe his best shot now would 
be to apply for pugilistic purgatory if there is one. Don, who was a music 
promoter and ran a black nightclub in Cleveland way back when, may now be 
relating to Curtis Mayfield's song, "If There's A Hell Below, We're All Gonna 
Go."

Keep in mind that, through the decades, there was and is always a double 
standard. A boxing know-nothing like Jack Newfield would rip King for using 
stepson Carl as "the manager" for his fighters, the better to make deductions 
on their purses, yet, no one pointed to Dan Duva using his father, Bulldog 
Lou, to do the same at Main Events. Top Rank does it today using Cameron 
"Donuts" Duncan in the Carlito King role and nobody squawks about that. 

What was it Buddy Hackett said about another of my old bosses, Howard 
Cosell? Something about how people had mixed emotions about Cosell.

"Some people hate him like poison," Hackett said, "and other people just 
hate him regular."

So it is with Don King. But there is no denying his historical importance. 
King often quotes the racist bromide, "figure, figure, blame it on the nigger." 
King uses his race as a sword and a shield and he is as shameless as a 
televangelist or a politician, sure. That can't be denied.

So call him a dirty dog if you must. Call him a black dog if you so desire. 
But, coming up soon on 40 years, he is still the lead dog in a vicious 
business.

As you hit 75, today, DK, I salute you. You're 75 and moving like 55. But 
I hear you're sleeping a lot more these nights.

Better nip that in the bud. You're the one who says, "You don't get nothing 
from sleep but a dream, my man."

In an amazing lifetime, you've seen and end to the lynching of black men. 
You've seen Jim Crow beaten down and out. You've seen Lyndon Johnson 
and Rev. King work legislative miracles. You've seen an era of so-called equal opportunity and workplace diversity.

Time is short, I know. But I seriously doubt you will live to see a time when 
there is one other major boxing promoter whose pigmentation is like yours.

And doesn't that say it all, brother man?