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Wanted: Name of person who pushed Don King, others at HBO boxing show last Saturday

By Zach Arnold | April 30, 2013

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Deadspin posted the video from last Saturday night’s telecast of the Chris Arreola/Bermane Stiverne fight and labeled it as “Don King’s acting like a crazy person again.” The back story on the situation, however, is different.

The fight, promoted by Goossen-Tutor Promotions w/ Don King & Roy Englebrecht, saw an unnamed woman pushing around several people during the show at ringside. We’ve talked with people who were at the show about this person in question and have obtained the following information. The woman, who we have circled in the picture, is believed to be an assistant floor director for HBO — but nobody who is willing to talk can confirm this fact. In the screen capture, you can see Danny Goossen to the left and a security guy who works for the arena in the red jacket on the right. One source near ringside claims that the unnamed woman told security to not let anyone walk down the aisleway that HBO had set-up for Bob Papa and the post-fight interview. The woman in question allegedly ignored California State Athletic Commission authority and was characterized as acting like an authority figure.

At the beginning of the Deadspin video, you can see this woman tugging on Don King and grabbing him repeatedly to try to prevent him from being on camera for the post-fight interview. A reputable source claimed that she was laughing and having a great time while ordering and bullying others around, including Chris Arreola’s manager. The problem with this situation is that members of the Commission only found out about what stunts this woman was pulling after the show was done because the regulators were busy doing their jobs — Mark Relyea (top athletic inspector) completing paperwork, Dr. Paul Wallace tending to Chris Arreola’s battered face, so on and so forth. If members of the commission saw this woman in action, they would have put an immediate stop to her behavior and read her the riot act.

As you can see in the video, the woman gives up on pushing & holding King when Bob Papa and others turn around to watch what she is doing. As King tries to get down from the ring, he takes a turn with a steep drop based on the way the steps are pointing. However, watch the woman’s left hand carefully — she tries to cheap shot King by giving him a push as he’s trying to climb down to the floor. He stumbles. Notice who Don points at after right after he stumbles. He knows what’s up.

There are officials who worked the show who want to know more about this woman and are interested in talking with her.

A big reason why there is interest behind the scenes in identifying who this woman is has to due with concerns regarding liability issues and whether or not this woman will do something down the road that will result in a legal mess.

There are many interested parties involved with the event last Saturday night who are looking for the name of the woman in question and they need your assistance. We have many people inside the fight industry (HBO, Showtime, etc.) who read this site and may possess more knowledge about this person in question. If you know who this woman is and have more information, please e-mail me directly at [email protected]. All communication will be kept confidential. I do not burn sources. Your help in identifying who this person is would be greatly appreciated.

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

16 Responses to “Wanted: Name of person who pushed Don King, others at HBO boxing show last Saturday”

  1. Clint says:

    Looks to me like the commission was there, look who is standing beside Danny.(On his right side)Is that inspector Larry Ervin?

  2. Simon says:

    I swear I’ve seen her inside the Octagon on a few occasions, specifically during the Cali shows. Or is that another red haired woman dressed in black. That would make her part of the commission right?

  3. RST says:

    (Hmmm… Blame it on the chick who did it,
    or blame it on Don King…)

    I’m pretty sure that was Don King acting crazy again Boss.

  4. Safari_Punch says:

    I don’t think too many people outside of the CSAC would have been upset if Don King fell after all the stuff he has done to people over the years.

  5. 45 Huddle says:

    BELLATOR MMA

    Where Title Shots Are Earned, Not Given…. Unless you have a really big contract with both Bellator and TNA…. And then they will give you a tournament with one less round and only completely beatable opponents….

    Actually, all 4 fighters in the tournament are coming off losses. Mine as well just give King Mo a title shot now…. Since it is obvious that is what they are trying to do. I will laugh until New Years if King Mo screws this one up again…

    At least Michael Chandler is fighting on their card again…. Get that man as many fights as possible so his contract runs out soon. He needs to be in the UFC instead of fighting guys like Dave Jansen…

    • Chris says:

      What does this have to do with Don King and this story?

      • 45 Huddle says:

        What does your post have to do with Don King?

        People post random topics on this website all of the time…. I don’t see the problem with it now….

    • The Gaijin says:

      205 is Bellator’s worst division by far (they dropped HW right?).

      While I agree it’s pretty transparent with Mo’ what are you gonna do? They paid him a ton of money and need him to draw. In no way is it worse that Jones vs. Sonnen…at least he has to win his way to a title shot vs. talk shit on twitter and get gifted a TV gig and big PPV bite.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Jones vs Sonnen is just as bad…. and neither should be used to justify the other. It reeks of Pro Wrestling garbage.

        Did they actually get rid of Heavyweight? That is good if true. They need to work with Middleweight to Bantam for men only.

        • The Gaijin says:

          “Jones vs Sonnen is just as bad…. and neither should be used to justify the other. It reeks of Pro Wrestling garbage.”

          I fully buy into that point.

          End of the day, Bellator is bush league and I don’t expect a whole lot from them. They’re also killing me because they’re holding back guys like Askren, Alvarez (mah boooooy!), Curran and Chandler. It’s great that there is a national stage for these guys to develop their name and their game or reinvent themselves, but they should be allowed to move on to the big league when the time comes.

          It’s also good because big ego idiots like King Mo get to have their bubble burst by a journeyman without “Lombarding” it up in the UFC on a big payday.

  6. edub says:

    Meh, IMO Don King is one of the most evil famous people of the past 20-30 years so I’d have no problem if he was actually injured.

    However, if the stories about this woman are even remotely true she needs to be reprimanded immediately.

  7. Dukes says:

    Was she sent by Yakuza?

  8. Diaz's cashed bowl says:

    Actually, its very clear she’s trying to grab his arm as he slipped. Its just reflex not a cheap shot, watch the video.

  9. BonJon says:

    I actually saw this video and I am positive Don King slipped and was just angry because they wouldn’t let him on the stage. I feel for him, but yea, no one pushed him. He’s just trying to blame someone. This picture in this article is blurry and misleading. Watch the beginning and see who pushes who….

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIAa8Y4Rt8I&feature=player_embedded

    Also, Zach, I would retitle this article and say “Name of person who tried to catch Don King as he fell.”

    It’s clear. Watch at the 23 second mark.

    Ed. — Except nobody around the ring or those who were witnesses to what happened at the show would agree with this take. The point is that officials want to talk to this person right now.

    • Jay B. says:

      Pretty clear thats not what happened Bonjon. She was looking as if she was guarding the ring from “intruders” and pushing people off.

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