At 76, King is an old-school promoter who has seen the way boxing delivers its biggest matches change dramatically over the years. First it was radio that brought Jack Dempsey, Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis into living rooms. Then, television helped make fighters like Rocky Marciano and Sugar Ray Robinson larger-than-life celebrities. When King got into the business, closed-circuit TV became the rage. In March, King became the first major promoter to put a live fight card on his own Web site. The reason may have been that no one wanted to televise Cory Spinks vs. Verno Phillips. But that's not the point. At donkingtv.com, fans got to see a world title fight — for free. It's probably too early to call him the king of cyberspace. But by all accounts, King's first Web cast venture was a successful one. The boxing event, from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, was seen by more than 200,000 individual visitors logging on in 94 countries. Not surprisingly, Bob Arum of Top Rank, King's archrival, reportedly has similar plans. King says this is only the beginning. He hopes to offer more live fights on the Web, and not just his own bouts.http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/jwhisler/stories/MYSA050408.whislercolumn0504.en.3cd5647.html
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