Onnnnllllyyyy on the Internet!!! By Steve Kim (March 27, 2008) Send this page to friend Give us your feedback Unless you're actually inside the Scottrade Center in St. Louis tonight, the only other way you'll be able to see Cory Spinks defend his IBF junior middleweight title against Verno Phillips is to log on to Donkingtv.com. Yes, Don King, an old-school promoter who cut his teeth in the business back when closed-circuit theaters were about the only way to deliver the sport’s biggest matches, is now on the world wide web. And get this, all you need is a high-speed connection since this four-fight telecast is being offered for free. For King, the internet is the new frontier. "Yes it is," he would tell Maxboxing on Wednesday afternoon. "I think that is the step into the future as a pioneer and as a trailblazer. This is the way I think the future is going to be. So I'm going with the broadband and bringing the fans. You can really do a billion people at one time if you had a Tyson doing this in this time and era. So what I want to do is to be able to put together a great show for St. Louis - which they have a tremendous show - and at the same time, simultaneously put on a show that everybody will get a chance to see a pioneering and trailblazing experience." Live boxing on the internet is nothing new. Various websites (including this one) have shown live fights, and yahoo.com's boxing page has featured the live webcasts of several pay-per-view undercards in the past few months. But King is the first major promoter to put up a live show on his own website. Several years ago he talked of starting up his own network as he became particularly frustrated with his dealings with HBO. As youtube has shown, the traditional definition of what a network is has changed dramatically, as have the viewing habits of the public. The computer is now every bit the entertainment module the television is. King believes that Donkingtv.com provides him a new avenue. "I'm going to take product from everybody and anybody on a 'to be discussed' basis. So it's going to be opening up, it's going to have music, entertainment, hip-hop, 'King’s Corner' with a talk show, all of this is part of being a network that's going to be for all the people. A network of the people, for the people and by the people," he states. It's no secret that his arch-rival of the past, Bob Arum, has similar plans. In an era when boxing is no longer a network presence and just an afterthought to networks like ESPN and FSN, this idea is a long time coming. "It's been going on from the time that the information highway really came into prominence and I've seen many, many guys go from Silicon Valley to across the nation and more importantly, in China, in India, all of these places where they are really ahead of us in technology and things of that sort. And that's a sad commentary," says King. "So I think about what I have to do, I've been thinking about it, but I just launched it and I hope the people will support it." He plans to do this on a regular basis. "I'm going to try to do six and maybe even more (in 2008). But I'm going to try and keep on going once a month and see if I can work with it to be able to deal with advertising support or if it's a major, major event, take a pay-per-view shot. And if it's an event that I think is for development, it will be advertising support," he says of his business model. The Spinks-Phillips fight is a perfect fit for this realm. A network like ESPN simply couldn't afford this fight with their meager license fees, and HBO and Showtime are reluctant to put up their money for any Spinks fight, in general. In recent years there has simply been no middle ground for fighters. Either make the big money on the premium networks or earn pennies on the dollar. "There's only so many dates that you can fill and you can't have it according to what they do," King says of the big networks. "So if you ain't one of the fair-haired boys you don't get that opportunity to do it, or if you don't have the product they consider top-notch, you don't have an opportunity to have a date. So this is something that opens up for everyone." King swears he will have an open door policy. "And I will take all other promoters’ fights, too. Whether they have stuff they can't get in on the HBOs or Showtimes and all that thing. They're open to come in and work with me. Because there's no pride of authorship here. Its business and trying to make things better, to give you an outlet where you can have some kind of relief." And his site will feature his vast archives - for a price. For $4.95 you can view some of the past fights under his promotional banner. Currently, the four round slugfest between Felix Trinidad and Yory Boy Campas can be downloaded for free. "Most of the people are just taking my stuff and showing it anyway without license or authorization. So I'll put a lot of it on my site. A lot of it has never been seen before," claims King, whose video game comes out in mid-June. "I want to do a people’s network. I'm not coming in with acrimony, divisiveness and hostility. I'm trying to work for the betterment of the sport." NO TIME FOR KESSLER-MIRANDA So what happened to the proposed bout between Mikkel Kessler and Edison Miranda on May 24th that was to be televised by Showtime? “We all, the three parties involved, had a deal and the Kessler camp pulled out," said an obviously annoyed Ken Hershman, Showtime's boxing czar. "Some very unacceptable rationale behind it and I've been very disappointed in this business many times but this one’s right up there. It's a real mis-handling and a reneging by Mogens Palle and Kessler. It's disappointing." The deal was brokered by Lou DiBella on behalf of Warriors Boxing and Palle. You never say never in this business, but when it comes to Palle and his fighter, they will be a tough sell to Hershman moving forward. "I can't envision being very welcoming and open to anything they tell me in the future because you can do this to me once but you can't do it to me twice," he warned. Showtime will now focus on trying to make the rematch between Miranda and IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, although it's not clear if Miranda is willing to move back down to 160-pounds or not. "I'm going to be working with them, the Miranda people and with Sauerland's folks to see if that fight can be made. If it can, great, if not, OK. We'll move on," he states. "There's plenty of good things there. I'm also not dying for a May event; I mean, I'm looking to put on good stuff. And if it happens and it's there, great, if not, I'll wait." FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS There's some pretty good stuff on Friday. On ESPN2's Friday Night Fights you have a main event of Kassim Ouma-Cornelius Bundrage, which could be entertaining, and a bout featuring touted welterweight prospect Mike Jones in his first real television exposure. On Telefutura, junior lightweight prospect Juanito Garcia takes on the slick Cornelius Lock. FINAL FLURRIES 'The Pride of St. Louis card will begin at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT....Also on that webcast is jr. welterweight prospect Devon Alexander, who faces veteran Miguel Callist.... Hey, now that Kevin Cunningham is no longer working with Spinks, who's going to be belligerent and irrational on his behalf?....Andre Ward's seventh round stoppage of Rubin Williams will be shown tonight on 'Best Damn' on FSN at 8 pm ET/PT....Gary Shaw tells me that Timothy Bradley will be taking on WBC jr. welterweight titlist Junior Witter on May 10th in England....So now Shaq is criticizing the Miami Heat? Well, some things never change. I guess that's why my good buddy Dave Smith (who will be back on the airwaves very soon in SoCal) dubbed him 'the Big Ingrate'..... For Questions or Comments E-Mail Steve Kim at k9kim@maxboxing.com Today's Boxing Press Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums