King's ransom

The painted words - Bets void, Lewis fight a fix - splashed across the windows of Coral bookmakers in Fleet Street, Dublin, looked like the artwork of a disgruntled punter, one with whom a lot of people would have had empathy. Given that Don King's (left) fingerprints seem not too far from this latest boxing farce, it is worth recalling the litany of controversy associated with the sport's larger-than-life promoter. King has now allegedly conned Muhammad Ali out of $950,000, Larry Holmes of $10 million, and Mike Tyson of $45 million. Tyson has taken a lawsuit against King to get his money back and it is not the first time. King was forced to pay Tim Witherspoon $1 million after a lawsuit, Tony Perea $1.4 million for what was described as contract interference, and Randall `Tex' Cobb $300,000, again following a lawsuit.

Oh, and he killed two men . . .