Don King turns 92 today. The “Only Man in America” ​​isn’t as apparent as it once was, but his name immediately evokes a reaction, good or bad, every time he appears. Love him or hate him, YOU have an opinion when it comes to Don King. It was already in 1972, when King promoted his first boxing card, and just two years later, in Africa, during the renowned “Rumble in the Jungle”, King became a world figure.

“I did it,” King said, recalling his terrible breakthrough. King had his own style, hairstyle, jewelry, pricey suits and, of course, the ability to speak English. Never before or since has a boxing promoter, or perhaps any promoter, talked like King. While serving time in prison for manslaughter, reading and educating himself – “I didn’t do the time, I made the time serve me,” King said) – King became a modern man.

Armed with quotes from everyone from Shakespeare to Richard II, Martin Luther King Jr. to Gandhi, King set about impressing, perhaps even embarrassing, literary giants like George Plimpton. In miniature, the boxing world had never seen or heard anyone like King. There was, of course, the bad side: the theft and the fact that no man had been brought to justice by more militants than King. And King’s sometimes uncanny ability to trample on people who helped him, Lloyd Price, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson and many others.

But even though King was vilified, some people tried to build some defense for him, stating that all of King’s rival boxing promoters were just as bad as him, he was simply the biggest name, the biggest target. Ali once said: “All boxing promoters are frauds, all it took was a black man with comical hair for people to notice.”

Meanwhile, British boxing giant Mickey Duff, comparing King to his greatest rival Bob Arum, stated that “One is black and the other is white. That’s the only difference.”

But when it comes to great quotes, perhaps King was in a league of his own. Here, whether you want to wish King a elated birthday or not, you’ll find some memorable King Don quotes that may or may not make you smile.

“I experienced a moment of religious epiphany.”

“Martin Luther King took us to the mountaintop: I want to take us to the shore. I’m not fighting the Civil War, I’m fighting the Poverty War.”

“Despite everything, I persevered and am a living proof of the American dream. I am the exaltation of this great nation. I drink coffee and cocktails with presidents and dictators. I am an international figure, a citizen of the world. I did it.”

“Man, I’ve been to jail. It was hell there, but I survived. If they put me in jail, I’ll get out again. I am one of the world’s greatest survivors. I will always survive because I have the right combination of wit, decisiveness and nonsense.”

“People don’t like me for the same reason they didn’t like Muhammad Ali. We’re the wrong kind of niggas. We are not hushed. We stand up to be counted.”

“I don’t promote boxing, I promote people. Boxing is a catalyst that brings people together.”

“There have only been three giant promoters in our lifetime. There is Michael Todd, PT Barnum and yours truly.”

“When I arrived, all the rules were forgotten. White sports journalists can’t accept this, they can’t imagine that this nigga got out of prison and turned everything upside down on his own.”

“I never get tired because it is not energy that is released. It is God who speaks through me.”

“I take care of my friends and I kick the ass of my enemies.”

“You see, the problem with me is that I’m so good that even my friends think I’m doing something wrong. Flair and flamboyance are not illegal. It may be disgusting, it may be offensive, but it is not illegal.”

“I was not invited to any board meetings. I had to break down the door.”

“I will fight for America until the day I fall.”

“When you can count your money, you don’t have it.”

“Thank God for money.”

“Of all the players I have created, dressed and financed, Gerrie Coetzee is the only one who had the decency to say thank you.

“I am a promoter of people, for people, for people, by people, and my magic lies in my interpersonal connections.”

“I will never stop surprising myself. I say this humbly.”